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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 116 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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. face — to confront
  3. rock — a stone
  4. clip — for paper
  5. field — a subject
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. field — for sport
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. kid — to tease
  14. branch — a division
  15. current — electric
  16. clip — to cut
  17. face — to point toward
  18. current — happening now
  19. field — farmland
  20. rock — music
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. face — part of the head
  24. clip — a video

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