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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: file · kid · calf · wind · season · pound · current · chest

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. chest — a box
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chest — of your body
  6. season — in sport
  7. kid — to tease
  8. current — of water
  9. current — electric
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. kid — child
  13. chest — of your body
  14. file — a line of people
  15. season — of the year
  16. current — happening now
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. file — a tool
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. wind — moving air
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. file — a document

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