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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. current — electric
  3. stand — to bear
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. current — happening now
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. kid — child
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bat — the animal
  14. spring — the season
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. chest — of your body
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chest — a box
  20. spring — of water
  21. wind — moving air
  22. current — of water
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. kid — to tease

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