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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: bass · wound · spring · ground · current · cell · cold · can

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in biology
  5. can — a tin
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bass — the fish
  8. current — happening now
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bass — low music
  11. spring — the season
  12. ground — a position
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — to be able to
  17. current — electric
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. current — of water

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