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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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Word bank
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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: current · snap · wind · bat · row · dip · charge · cold

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. row — to paddle
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cold — an illness
  5. current — happening now
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. charge — electricity
  9. cold — not warm
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. current — electric
  12. current — of water
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. bat — the animal
  15. row — a line
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. charge — in control
  18. wind — moving air
  19. dip — to sink
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. charge — a price
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. dip — to dunk

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