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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. clip — a video
  8. cold — an illness
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. track — a path
  11. track — a song
  12. field — for sport
  13. cold — not warm
  14. date — the fruit
  15. track — to keep track
  16. cue — a hint
  17. current — happening now
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. field — a subject
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. current — of water
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cue — a signal
  24. current — electric

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