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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  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. band — a ring
  2. track — a song
  3. current — electric
  4. track — a path
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. clip — a video
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. clip — for paper
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — from a university
  12. track — to keep track
  13. band — a music group
  14. clip — to cut
  15. field — a subject
  16. ball — a dance
  17. degree — temperature
  18. ball — a great time
  19. field — farmland
  20. current — happening now
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. field — for sport
  23. bowl — a dish
  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