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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 · bowl · mark · kick · hand · branch · cold · current

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. current — happening now
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — a coil
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — in football
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. branch — a division
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. mark — a trace
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. current — of water
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. mark — a grade
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — in cards

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