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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 116 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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — for catching
  4. field — a subject
  5. lie — to recline
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. current — electric
  12. field — for sport
  13. firm — a company
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. current — happening now
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. firm — steady
  19. field — farmland
  20. firm — decided
  21. clip — for paper
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. net — after costs

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