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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. scale — in music
  5. wind — moving air
  6. snap — to click
  7. field — farmland
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. field — for sport
  10. root — of a word
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. capital — money
  13. scale — size or range
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. wind — moving air
  16. root — the cause
  17. current — electric
  18. field — a subject
  19. season — in sport
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. current — happening now
  22. root — of a plant
  23. capital — a city
  24. season — of the year

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