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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: wound · current · lash · bear · kid · hide · straw · degree

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. degree — from a university
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. current — happening now
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. wound — an injury
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. current — of water
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. kid — child
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. degree — temperature
  19. current — electric
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bear — the animal
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. kid — to tease

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