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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. rush — hurry
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — temperature
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wax — to grow
  15. kick — in football
  16. current — happening now
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. degree — from a university
  19. current — electric
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. kick — with a leg
  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