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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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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: hand · calf · cold · file · bore · current · stock · pound

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. hand — help
  5. bore — to tire
  6. cold — an illness
  7. current — electric
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — shares
  12. hand — in cards
  13. file — a document
  14. stock — goods
  15. bore — to drill
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. file — a line of people
  19. current — of water
  20. pound — a weight
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. current — happening now
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. cold — not warm

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