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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. hand — help
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. current — electric
  6. field — a subject
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. mate — a partner
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — music
  12. pop — soda
  13. march — the month
  14. mate — to breed
  15. field — for sport
  16. hand — in cards
  17. current — happening now
  18. chest — a box
  19. current — of water
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mate — a friend

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