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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: cold · ball · squash · hand · sharp · wound · current · deal

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. hand — in cards
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a great time
  5. current — of water
  6. deal — to handle
  7. squash — the sport
  8. cold — an illness
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. sharp — clever
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. squash — to crush
  15. wound — an injury
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. wound — an injury
  19. current — electric
  20. current — happening now
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. sharp — exactly

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