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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. chip — to eat
  3. cold — an illness
  4. track — a song
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. field — for sport
  7. sharp — clever
  8. track — to keep track
  9. cap — a lid
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cap — a hat
  13. chip — for betting
  14. field — farmland
  15. plane — a tool
  16. current — happening now
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. current — electric
  21. current — of water
  22. field — a subject
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. track — a path

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