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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. current — electric
  3. current — happening now
  4. present — a gift
  5. current — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. season — of the year
  11. present — there
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. branch — a division
  14. face — to point toward
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. season — in sport
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. present — the time now
  19. face — part of the head
  20. face — to confront
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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