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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: current · mate · foot · spell · scale · mine · content · cold

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. foot — a measure
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. mate — a partner
  5. spell — magic
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — to breed
  8. content — the amount
  9. cold — an illness
  10. current — happening now
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. spell — letters
  17. content — happy
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. current — electric
  24. cold — not warm

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