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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. current — of water
  3. cold — not warm
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. bound — certain
  10. wind — moving air
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. current — happening now
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. spring — of water
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. bound — obliged
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. spring — the season
  21. bound — tied together
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. current — electric
  24. patient — a sick person

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