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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. bass — low music
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. branch — a division
  15. content — the amount
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bass — the fish
  18. current — happening now
  19. current — electric
  20. pound — a weight
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. content — happy

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