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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: staff · pit · current · hand · shower · drill · cold · wound

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pit — a hole
  5. current — happening now
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. drill — the tool
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. current — electric
  12. drill — army training
  13. staff — employees
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. cold — an illness
  16. staff — a stick
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. shower — to wash
  21. current — of water
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — not warm
  24. shower — rain

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