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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 · bore · cell · land · wind · face · snap · bat

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bore — to tire
  8. snap — to click
  9. land — ground
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. face — part of the head
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. land — a country
  15. bore — to drill
  16. wind — moving air
  17. current — electric
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cell — in biology
  20. current — happening now
  21. current — of water
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. cell — a phone
  24. face — to confront

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