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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: current · wake · dip · spring · roll · race · land · drill

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. land — to come down
  3. spring — a coil
  4. land — ground
  5. spring — the season
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. spring — of water
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. race — a contest
  10. wake — a trail
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. drill — army training
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. dip — to sink
  15. roll — a cake
  16. roll — a list
  17. current — happening now
  18. race — humankind
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. race — the arms race
  21. current — of water
  22. land — a country
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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