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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 120 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: pound · cold · spring · drill · arm · current · rock · saw

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. cold — not warm
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rock — music
  6. pound — a weight
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. current — of water
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. drill — a practice
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. spring — the season
  14. saw — the tool
  15. rock — a stone
  16. current — happening now
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. drill — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. current — electric
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. spring — of water

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