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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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Word bank
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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: rush · current · prune · fork · net · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. 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. cold — not warm
  2. fork — in a road
  3. current — electric
  4. rush — hurry
  5. net — for catching
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cold — an illness
  9. current — of water
  10. prune — to trim
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — in sport
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. 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