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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: rush · chest · mine · current · bat · march · dip · nail

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. march — the month
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. current — happening now
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rush — hurry
  9. current — electric
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. chest — of your body
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. chest — a box
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. march — the month
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. dip — to sink
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. bat — the animal
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. current — of water
  24. march — music

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