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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. hand — in cards
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. current — electric
  7. cue — a hint
  8. rash — a series
  9. hand — help
  10. cue — a signal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. current — of water
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. rash — hasty
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cue — for pool
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. calf — of the leg

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