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

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. field — farmland
  5. tube — the underground
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. current — happening now
  10. chair — a leader
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. tube — a container
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. current — of water
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. current — electric
  24. calf — of the leg

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