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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: bowl · cap · fan · current · track · leaves · last · wind

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. track — to keep track
  3. current — electric
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. cap — of ice
  6. track — a song
  7. wind — moving air
  8. track — a path
  9. last — to go on
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. cap — a hat
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. cap — a lid
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. current — of water
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. current — happening now
  19. last — finally
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. leaves — of a tree

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