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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — for sport
  4. fine — high quality
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cold — not warm
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. current — happening now
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. current — electric
  15. bank — of a river
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. field — a subject
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bank — for money
  22. bank — for money
  23. cold — an illness
  24. current — of water

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