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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: current · mark · tube · shower · wind · nail · cold · kid

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  2. current — happening now
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — to tease
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. cold — not warm
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. tube — the underground
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. mark — a trace
  14. current — of water
  15. tube — a container
  16. current — electric
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. mark — a grade
  19. shower — to wash
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. shower — rain
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wind — moving air
  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