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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. current — of water
  3. row — a line
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. cold — an illness
  11. land — a country
  12. hand — help
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. cold — not warm
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. row — to paddle
  19. land — to come down
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. land — ground
  23. current — happening now
  24. calf — a young animal

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