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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: ball · club · current · cold · rush · fine · clip · root

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rush — hurry
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. root — of a word
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. ball — a great time
  8. root — of a plant
  9. club — for golf
  10. clip — a video
  11. club — a group
  12. root — the cause
  13. fine — all right
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. fine — high quality
  16. ball — a dance
  17. current — electric
  18. cold — not warm
  19. club — for dancing
  20. current — happening now
  21. current — of water
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. cold — an illness
  24. clip — to cut

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