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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. current — electric
  5. drill — the tool
  6. drill — army training
  7. band — a ring
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. current — happening now
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. drill — a practice
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. fork — in a road
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. row — a line
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. row — to paddle
  22. current — of water
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. mine — for digging

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