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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 · drill · root · cold · mouse · ground · land · wake

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. root — of a word
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. drill — the tool
  7. land — ground
  8. ground — the earth
  9. current — happening now
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. root — the cause
  12. drill — army training
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. cold — an illness
  16. drill — a practice
  17. current — electric
  18. wake — a trail
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — a position
  21. root — of a plant
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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