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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: chip · deal · cold · pound · arm · kid · current · wound

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. deal — to handle
  3. current — of water
  4. cold — not warm
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. pound — a weight
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. kid — to tease
  9. current — happening now
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chip — to eat
  13. chip — for betting
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. wound — an injury
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. kid — child
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pound — to hit hard

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