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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bass — low music
  4. tear — to rip
  5. kid — to tease
  6. tear — from crying
  7. key — the most important part
  8. stand — to bear
  9. kid — child
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. key — in music
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. key — for a lock
  15. current — electric
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. current — happening now
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. cold — an illness
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wind — moving air

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