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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. cold — not warm
  3. field — a subject
  4. face — to point toward
  5. field — for sport
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. current — of water
  9. can — a tin
  10. branch — a division
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. cold — an illness
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. current — electric
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. can — to be able to
  19. face — to confront
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. field — farmland
  22. can — a tin
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. face — part of the head

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