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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. current — electric
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. object — a thing
  6. field — farmland
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. object — an aim
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. current — happening now
  11. clip — to cut
  12. current — of water
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. clip — for paper
  16. press — newspapers
  17. press — to push
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. object — to protest
  20. clip — a video
  21. press — a publisher
  22. field — for sport
  23. land — a country
  24. pound — a weight

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