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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: mug · pop · current · plane · clip · ground · cold · spell

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. ground — the earth
  3. current — happening now
  4. pop — to visit
  5. spell — letters
  6. ground — a position
  7. pop — soda
  8. mug — a cup
  9. cold — an illness
  10. current — electric
  11. ground — crushed
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — a tool
  17. mug — to rob
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. current — of water
  20. mug — a face
  21. spell — magic
  22. pop — music
  23. clip — a video
  24. spell — a short time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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