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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: straw · sharp · swing · cell · current · wind · racket · row

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. current — of water
  3. current — electric
  4. swing — music
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. row — a line
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. row — to paddle
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — in golf
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. wind — moving air
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. sharp — clever
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. current — happening now
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. sharp — with an edge

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