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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. wind — moving air
  3. key — for a lock
  4. staff — employees
  5. current — electric
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — a series
  10. key — the most important part
  11. key — in music
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. wind — moving air
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. cold — not warm
  17. staff — employees
  18. current — happening now
  19. kick — in football
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. current — of water
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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