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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: dip · bear · wind · march · current · field · cold · spring

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bear — the animal
  4. current — electric
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cold — not warm
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cold — an illness
  15. march — the month
  16. field — for sport
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. dip — to sink
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. current — of water
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bear — the animal

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