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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. pitch — completely
  3. field — farmland
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. field — for sport
  6. bass — the fish
  7. mine — for digging
  8. spell — magic
  9. spell — letters
  10. chip — to eat
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. current — of water
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. chip — for betting
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. field — a subject
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. current — happening now
  22. spell — a short time
  23. bass — low music
  24. pitch — a sports field

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