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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: plane · fall · row · ground · band · snap · present · current

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. fall — to drop
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. present — a gift
  8. row — to paddle
  9. plane — a tool
  10. fall — the season
  11. ground — a position
  12. current — happening now
  13. current — electric
  14. fall — to drop
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. snap — to click
  17. present — the time now
  18. band — a ring
  19. current — of water
  20. present — there
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. ground — the earth
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. band — a music group

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