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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 120 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: pound · ball · ground · mine · face · rock · current · drill

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. face — to confront
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pound — a weight
  5. ball — a great time
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ball — a dance
  8. current — of water
  9. drill — a practice
  10. current — happening now
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. rock — music
  14. rock — a stone
  15. face — to point toward
  16. mine — for digging
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. drill — army training
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. face — part of the head
  24. drill — the tool

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