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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: current · net · shower · cell · wound · rush · kick · date

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. current — of water
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wound — an injury
  7. date — the fruit
  8. rush — hurry
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. net — in sport
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. kick — in football
  15. shower — rain
  16. current — electric
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. cell — in biology
  19. current — happening now
  20. shower — to wash
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. net — for catching
  24. wound — an injury

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