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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: bank · current · tube · cold · ground · cell · content · fall

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. ground — a position
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cold — an illness
  7. tube — a container
  8. content — the amount
  9. fall — to drop
  10. bank — for money
  11. ground — the earth
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. ground — crushed
  16. current — electric
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bank — of a river
  20. fall — the season
  21. bank — for money
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. current — happening now

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