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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: file · current · kid · perch · mine · straw · temple · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. current — of water
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. current — electric
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. band — a music group
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. kid — to tease
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. mine — for digging
  20. file — a document
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. current — happening now
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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