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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. spring — of water
  3. swing — music
  4. current — electric
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. stem — to come from
  7. land — a country
  8. current — of water
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. spring — the season
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. land — ground
  16. swing — to play on
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. board — to get on
  19. land — to come down
  20. spring — a coil
  21. board — a committee
  22. kick — in football
  23. swing — in golf
  24. current — happening now

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