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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 116 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 · cold · kid · ground · shower · spring · pitcher · press

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. current — electric
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. spring — of water
  5. kid — to tease
  6. press — a publisher
  7. press — newspapers
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — a position
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. press — to push
  12. shower — rain
  13. ground — crushed
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. shower — to wash
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. current — of water
  19. current — happening now
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cold — not warm
  24. kid — child

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