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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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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: bay · swing · current · wind · nail · degree · cold · tear

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. swing — to play on
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. current — electric
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. tear — from crying
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — not warm
  12. current — happening now
  13. swing — music
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. swing — in golf
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. degree — temperature
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. tear — to rip
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. cold — the Cold War

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