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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 · prune · vault · face · band · chip · track · current

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. cold — an illness
  3. face — to point toward
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. cold — not warm
  7. band — a ring
  8. vault — a safe
  9. current — happening now
  10. chip — for betting
  11. band — a music group
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. face — to confront
  15. current — electric
  16. chip — to eat
  17. track — to keep track
  18. prune — to trim
  19. track — a path
  20. track — a song
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. face — part of the head
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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