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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. spring — of water
  3. club — for dancing
  4. land — ground
  5. track — a song
  6. club — a group
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. spring — the season
  11. land — to come down
  12. spring — a coil
  13. track — to keep track
  14. club — for golf
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — happy
  17. land — a country
  18. wax — to grow
  19. prune — to trim
  20. current — of water
  21. current — happening now
  22. prune — to trim
  23. track — a path
  24. prune — the fruit

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