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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. game — wild animals
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — for dancing
  9. current — happening now
  10. game — a match
  11. field — for sport
  12. rock — a stone
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. field — farmland
  16. current — of water
  17. field — a subject
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. current — electric
  21. club — a group
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. stem — to come from

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