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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. rash — a series
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. current — of water
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. current — happening now
  14. rash — hasty
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stem — to come from
  22. spring — the season
  23. prune — to trim
  24. stem — a stem cell

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