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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: current · wind · hand · key · shower · bass · capital · squash

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. current — happening now
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. shower — rain
  7. key — the most important part
  8. hand — in cards
  9. shower — to wash
  10. capital — money
  11. squash — the sport
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. squash — to crush
  14. hand — help
  15. key — in music
  16. key — for a lock
  17. current — electric
  18. wind — moving air
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. wind — moving air
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bass — low music
  24. capital — a city

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