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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bark · current · band · ball · cold · spell · spring · tube

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — of water
  4. spell — a short time
  5. tube — a container
  6. current — happening now
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bark — to shout
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. current — of water
  11. spell — magic
  12. tube — the underground
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. ball — a great time
  19. spell — letters
  20. ball — a dance
  21. cold — an illness
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a ring
  24. ball — a round shape

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