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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: wound · cold · tube · bass · face · ball · stem · current

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. tube — a container
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bass — the fish
  6. face — to confront
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. current — happening now
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. current — electric
  12. cold — an illness
  13. ball — a great time
  14. face — part of the head
  15. ball — a dance
  16. stem — to come from
  17. face — to point toward
  18. tube — the underground
  19. bass — low music
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. tube — in a tire

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