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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: wind · pass · roll · net · chair · wound · snap · current

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. net — after costs
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. current — of water
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chair — a leader
  10. roll — a cake
  11. wound — an injury
  12. current — happening now
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. pass — a permit
  16. net — for catching
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. current — electric
  19. snap — to click
  20. roll — a list
  21. wound — an injury
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. net — in sport
  24. pass — to spend time

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