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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: cold · sharp · pass · file · land · calf · racket · current

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. sharp — clever
  6. file — a line of people
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. land — ground
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. current — happening now
  13. pass — a permit
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. land — a country
  19. current — of water
  20. file — a document
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. file — a tool
  23. current — electric
  24. land — to come down

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