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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. current — happening now
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. branch — a division
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. current — of water
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wake — a trail
  20. cold — an illness
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. current — electric
  24. racket — for tennis

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