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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 · pitcher · trunk · wind · land · net · cap · hand

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. net — in sport
  4. cap — a hat
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. land — to come down
  8. current — of water
  9. hand — in cards
  10. current — electric
  11. land — a country
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. hand — help
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wind — moving air
  16. net — for catching
  17. current — happening now
  18. land — ground
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. cap — a lid
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. net — after costs

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