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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 116 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 · ground · band · season · mine · wake · stick · current

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. season — of the year
  5. ground — crushed
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. ground — a position
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. cold — an illness
  10. current — of water
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. band — a music group
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. ground — the earth
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. band — a ring
  18. season — in sport
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. current — happening now
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. mine — for digging
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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