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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 · row · swing · net · hide · cold · roll · current

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. roll — a cake
  3. roll — a list
  4. current — of water
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. current — electric
  17. net — for catching
  18. row — to paddle
  19. swing — in golf
  20. current — happening now
  21. hand — in cards
  22. net — in sport
  23. swing — to play on
  24. net — after costs

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