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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
468
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: cold · current · vault · spring · swing · mine · bulb · file

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. current — of water
  3. bulb — for light
  4. spring — a coil
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bulb — for light
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. swing — in golf
  9. file — a document
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cold — not warm
  13. swing — music
  14. spring — the season
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. current — electric
  18. file — a line of people
  19. spring — of water
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. file — a tool
  24. vault — a safe

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