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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 116 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: ground · fall · drill · hand · mine · current

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. hand — in cards
  3. mine — for digging
  4. drill — a practice
  5. drill — army training
  6. ground — a position
  7. fall — to drop
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. ground — the earth
  10. current — happening now
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. current — of water
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. drill — the tool
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. ground — crushed

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