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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. current — electric
  3. pop — to visit
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — the season
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. current — of water
  10. row — to paddle
  11. last — final
  12. saw — the tool
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. current — happening now
  16. pop — soda
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. last — finally
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. last — to go on
  23. stem — to come from
  24. row — a line

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