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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. hand — help
  4. spring — of water
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. spring — the season
  7. ground — a position
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. swing — music
  10. rash — hasty
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. current — of water
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. current — happening now
  16. saw — the tool
  17. ground — crushed
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — to play on
  20. hand — in cards
  21. rash — a series
  22. ground — the earth
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. spring — a coil

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com