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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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. current — electric
  3. tube — the underground
  4. field — a subject
  5. bass — the fish
  6. field — for sport
  7. spring — the season
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. field — farmland
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. wake — a trail
  13. spring — of water
  14. tube — a container
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. spring — a coil
  18. current — of water
  19. mine — for digging
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. bass — low music
  23. current — happening now
  24. lean — to bend

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