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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: craft · shower · root · hand · arm · current · spring · clip

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. craft — boats
  3. shower — rain
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. craft — a skill
  7. clip — a video
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. root — of a word
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. root — of a plant
  12. spring — of water
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. current — electric
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. spring — the season
  18. shower — to wash
  19. current — happening now
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. current — of water
  22. root — the cause
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. spring — a coil

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