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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: game · craft · wind · root · current · cold · roll · band

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. cold — not warm
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. current — happening now
  7. cold — an illness
  8. game — wild animals
  9. wind — moving air
  10. root — of a word
  11. wind — moving air
  12. craft — boats
  13. current — electric
  14. root — of a plant
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. band — a music group
  17. roll — a list
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. current — of water
  20. roll — a cake
  21. band — a ring
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. root — the cause
  24. game — a match

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