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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: spring · arm · current · fall · cold · rash · saw · plane

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. rash — a series
  3. current — electric
  4. saw — the tool
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. cold — not warm
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. current — happening now
  9. fall — to drop
  10. saw — the tool
  11. cold — an illness
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. fall — the season
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. rash — hasty
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. current — of water
  23. plane — a tool
  24. fall — to drop

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