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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · fan · prune · spring · current · net · bulb · land

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. spring — of water
  4. land — to come down
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. spring — the season
  7. current — electric
  8. net — for catching
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. prune — to trim
  11. net — after costs
  12. current — happening now
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. land — ground
  16. land — a country
  17. hand — in cards
  18. net — in sport
  19. spring — a coil
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bulb — for light
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bulb — for light
  24. current — of water

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