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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: rush · row · kick · mine · current · sharp · kid · band

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. band — a music group
  5. kid — to tease
  6. current — happening now
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. kick — in football
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. rush — hurry
  11. current — of water
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. kid — child
  15. band — a ring
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. sharp — clever
  19. current — electric
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. kick — with a leg

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