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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. mate — a partner
  3. present — a gift
  4. current — of water
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. spring — a coil
  7. current — electric
  8. field — for sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. season — of the year
  13. present — there
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. spring — of water
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. mate — a friend
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. field — a subject
  20. present — the time now
  21. field — farmland
  22. mate — to breed
  23. current — happening now
  24. arm — part of the body

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