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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: cold · arm · current · spring · wound · board · march · rock

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  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. current — of water
  2. spring — of water
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. board — a committee
  6. rock — a stone
  7. spring — a coil
  8. march — music
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. spring — the season
  12. wound — an injury
  13. current — electric
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. rock — music
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. march — the month
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. board — to get on
  21. cold — an illness
  22. march — the month
  23. arm — part of the body
  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