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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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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — in golf
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. cold — an illness
  6. tube — a container
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. object — to protest
  9. current — happening now
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. current — electric
  16. kid — to tease
  17. dip — to sink
  18. object — a thing
  19. object — an aim
  20. swing — to play on
  21. snap — to click
  22. tube — the underground
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. current — of water

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