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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 120 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: degree · wind · ball · cold · current · straw · kid · bore

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. degree — from a university
  3. current — electric
  4. current — happening now
  5. ball — a dance
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ball — a great time
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. cold — an illness
  15. current — of water
  16. degree — an amount
  17. kid — to tease
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. kid — child
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bore — to drill
  22. cold — not warm
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bore — to tire

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