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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: kid · mine · staff · cold · current · dip · bat · stand

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bat — the animal
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. current — happening now
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. stand — to bear
  12. staff — a stick
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. staff — employees
  16. current — of water
  17. dip — to sink
  18. staff — employees
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. kid — child
  23. current — electric
  24. mine — for digging

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