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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. content — happy
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. net — in sport
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. spell — letters
  10. current — of water
  11. current — electric
  12. content — the amount
  13. spell — magic
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. kick — in football
  16. mine — for digging
  17. net — after costs
  18. spell — a short time
  19. net — for catching
  20. field — a subject
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. fan — to cool the air

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