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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: present · mine · current · pop · snap · cold · pound · plane

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. pop — music
  4. present — there
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. mine — for digging
  10. current — electric
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. present — a gift
  13. present — the time now
  14. current — happening now
  15. cold — not warm
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. plane — a tool
  20. pop — soda
  21. pound — a weight
  22. snap — to click
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. plane — in geometry

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