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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: straw · cold · court · current · wound · kid · can · saw

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. wound — an injury
  3. current — electric
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wound — an injury
  7. can — a tin
  8. court — of law
  9. can — a tin
  10. current — of water
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cold — not warm
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. current — happening now
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. kid — to tease
  18. court — of a king
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. court — for sport
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — an illness

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