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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: spring · net · kid · saw · hand · current · bulb · file

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. current — of water
  3. file — a tool
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. spring — a coil
  6. file — a document
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. bulb — for light
  15. net — for catching
  16. current — electric
  17. file — a line of people
  18. spring — the season
  19. hand — in cards
  20. kid — child
  21. hand — help
  22. spring — of water
  23. current — happening now
  24. bulb — for light

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