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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 120 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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. field — farmland
  5. content — happy
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. band — a music group
  9. field — for sport
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. field — a subject
  13. bat — the animal
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. current — of water
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. current — electric
  19. band — a ring
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. arm — a part of something

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