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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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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: wind · rock · pound · current · lie · chest · bat · band

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. rock — a stone
  4. current — electric
  5. bat — the animal
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. current — of water
  11. rock — music
  12. lie — to recline
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. band — a music group
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. bat — for baseball

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