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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: cold · chair · spell · bass · dip · ground · current · nail

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. dip — to sink
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bass — the fish
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. spell — magic
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — a position
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cold — not warm
  13. current — electric
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — the earth
  16. spell — a short time
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. bass — low music
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. spell — letters
  22. current — happening now
  23. current — of water
  24. nail — for a hammer

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