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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: current · straw · court · drill · cue · content · cold · race

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. current — of water
  3. drill — the tool
  4. race — a contest
  5. cue — for pool
  6. cold — an illness
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. race — humankind
  9. cue — a signal
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. current — electric
  12. drill — a practice
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. court — of a king
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. current — happening now
  18. content — happy
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. drill — army training
  21. court — for sport
  22. court — of law
  23. cue — a hint
  24. race — the arms race

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