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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: snap · saw · current · wake · kid · cold · game · rest

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. current — electric
  4. rest — what's left
  5. snap — to click
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wake — a trail
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cold — not warm
  12. current — happening now
  13. current — of water
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rest — a break
  20. rest — what's left
  21. saw — the tool
  22. kid — to tease
  23. game — a match
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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