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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: chest · shower · mug · roll · wind · prune · tube · current

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. mug — to rob
  4. roll — a cake
  5. current — electric
  6. mug — a cup
  7. current — of water
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. prune — to trim
  11. current — happening now
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wind — moving air
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. mug — a face
  16. chest — of your body
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. tube — a container
  19. tube — the underground
  20. chest — of your body
  21. prune — to trim
  22. shower — rain
  23. roll — a list
  24. chest — a box

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