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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 · board · squash · current · wound · game · spring · tear

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. current — electric
  5. board — to get on
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wound — an injury
  9. spring — a coil
  10. mine — for digging
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. board — a committee
  13. squash — to crush
  14. tear — from crying
  15. game — wild animals
  16. current — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. current — happening now
  20. game — a match
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spring — of water
  23. squash — the sport
  24. mine — belonging to me

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