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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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. hand — help
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chip — for betting
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pass — a permit
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. chip — to eat
  18. current — electric
  19. current — happening now
  20. hand — in cards
  21. prune — to trim
  22. current — of water
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. hand — part of the body

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