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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: mine · wind · degree · patient · current · board · drill · pop

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wind — moving air
  3. current — electric
  4. pop — music
  5. drill — army training
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pop — to visit
  8. wind — moving air
  9. current — of water
  10. drill — a practice
  11. board — to get on
  12. pop — soda
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — a committee
  18. degree — from a university
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. degree — temperature
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. degree — an amount
  23. current — happening now
  24. drill — the tool

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