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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.

Make a worksheet

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: snap · chair · object · tear · mine · wind · pitcher · current

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. snap — to click
  5. wind — moving air
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. current — of water
  8. current — happening now
  9. tear — to rip
  10. chair — a leader
  11. object — a thing
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. tear — from crying
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. current — electric
  17. object — an aim
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. tear — from crying
  22. object — to protest
  23. wind — moving air
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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