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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: calf · staff · file · wind · cold · current · fall · pitcher

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. file — a line of people
  6. wind — moving air
  7. staff — employees
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. cold — not warm
  10. current — happening now
  11. fall — to drop
  12. staff — employees
  13. wind — moving air
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. file — a document
  16. cold — an illness
  17. staff — a stick
  18. current — electric
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. file — a tool
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. current — of water
  24. cold — the Cold War

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