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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 120 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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. spring — of water
  7. lean — to bend
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. mine — for digging
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. current — electric
  12. current — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. staff — employees
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. current — happening now
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. staff — employees
  21. shower — rain
  22. staff — a stick
  23. spring — the season
  24. pitcher — a jug

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