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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · kid · deal · race · stand · current

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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. cold — an illness
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. kid — to tease
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. current — happening now
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. race — humankind
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. race — a contest
  12. deal — to handle
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. current — electric
  15. stand — to bear
  16. race — the arms race
  17. kid — child
  18. cold — the Cold War

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