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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 120 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: kid · pitcher · spring · rock · current · bass · chair · game

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. rock — music
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. spring — of water
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chair — a leader
  12. spring — the season
  13. kid — to tease
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. current — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bass — the fish
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. game — wild animals
  22. rock — a stone
  23. current — happening now
  24. bass — low music

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