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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: current · rule · chest · wind · present · temple

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. current — electric
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. rule — a law
  5. current — of water
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. chest — a box
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. present — the time now
  10. present — there
  11. present — a gift
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rule — government
  14. current — happening now
  15. chest — of your body
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. chest — of your body

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