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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cap — of ice
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. field — a subject
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. current — happening now
  9. current — electric
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cap — a lid
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. game — a match
  14. field — farmland
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. current — of water
  20. game — wild animals
  21. row — a line
  22. field — for sport
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. band — a music group

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