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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. tear — to rip
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. field — for sport
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. file — a document
  7. wind — moving air
  8. current — happening now
  9. kick — in football
  10. field — a subject
  11. charge — electricity
  12. current — electric
  13. wind — moving air
  14. file — a tool
  15. charge — in control
  16. spring — the season
  17. charge — a price
  18. current — of water
  19. file — a line of people
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. tear — from crying
  22. spring — a coil
  23. tear — from crying
  24. spring — 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