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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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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. current — happening now
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. current — electric
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. kid — child
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kick — in football
  9. chest — of your body
  10. track — a path
  11. track — a song
  12. stand — to bear
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. bat — the animal
  16. track — to keep track
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. current — of water
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. kid — to tease
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. stand — for spectators

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