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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — a phone
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. field — a subject
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rest — what's left
  10. current — of water
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. field — for sport
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. sharp — clever
  17. rest — a break
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. date — the fruit
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. field — farmland
  23. cell — in biology
  24. current — happening now

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