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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: current · rest · fan · ground · wound · hand · suit · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. ground — a position
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. current — electric
  6. current — happening now
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. rest — a break
  10. rest — what's left
  11. current — of water
  12. ground — crushed
  13. suit — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. suit — clothes
  17. rest — what's left
  18. suit — to fit
  19. wound — an injury
  20. hand — in cards
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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