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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 116 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: ground · swing · rule · file · last · mine · hand · current

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. last — final
  3. rule — government
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a document
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — in cards
  9. current — happening now
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. last — finally
  13. rule — a law
  14. current — of water
  15. last — to go on
  16. swing — in golf
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — crushed
  19. swing — music
  20. current — electric
  21. ground — the earth
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. swing — to play on

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