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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: lean · kick · stock · tube · current · ball · wound · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. current — of water
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cold — not warm
  6. current — electric
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. lean — thin
  9. ball — a great time
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. stock — goods
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. kick — in football
  18. current — happening now
  19. tube — a container
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. tube — the underground
  23. stock — shares
  24. lean — to bend

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