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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. spring — the season
  3. current — electric
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — humankind
  6. current — of water
  7. race — a contest
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. bark — to shout
  10. saw — the tool
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. current — happening now
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. wake — a trail
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. mine — for digging
  22. snap — to click
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bark — of a tree

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