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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.

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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: sharp · current · cabinet · row · cell · prune · staff · file

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — employees
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. row — a line
  6. cell — a phone
  7. prune — to trim
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. sharp — clever
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — in biology
  12. prune — to trim
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. staff — a stick
  16. file — a line of people
  17. row — to paddle
  18. current — of water
  19. file — a document
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. file — a tool
  24. current — electric

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