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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 · shower · race · prune · date · stand · land · current

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. race — the arms race
  4. current — happening now
  5. land — a country
  6. cold — an illness
  7. race — humankind
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. current — of water
  11. cold — not warm
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. stand — to bear
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. land — ground
  16. date — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. land — to come down
  22. prune — to trim
  23. race — a contest
  24. date — on the calendar

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