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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: mine · band · stem · track · club · current · shower · clip

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. current — of water
  3. track — a song
  4. club — for dancing
  5. club — a group
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. stem — to come from
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. mine — for digging
  11. band — a ring
  12. shower — rain
  13. track — to keep track
  14. clip — to cut
  15. current — happening now
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. band — a music group
  18. shower — to wash
  19. clip — for paper
  20. club — for golf
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. track — a path
  23. clip — a video
  24. band — a rubber band

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