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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. field — farmland
  3. current — electric
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. spell — letters
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. current — happening now
  12. spell — a short time
  13. game — a match
  14. ball — a great time
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ball — a dance
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. current — of water
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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