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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. field — farmland
  2. track — to keep track
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. track — a song
  6. current — electric
  7. sharp — clever
  8. track — a path
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a match
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. content — happy
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. field — for sport
  19. current — happening now
  20. field — a subject
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. content — the amount
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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