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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: chair · cold · lie · current · hand · shower · swing · deal

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. deal — to handle
  4. hand — help
  5. shower — to wash
  6. current — electric
  7. lie — to recline
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. swing — music
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. shower — rain
  13. chair — a leader
  14. current — happening now
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. swing — to play on
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cold — not warm
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. cold — an illness
  22. hand — in cards
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. swing — in golf

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