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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. field — for sport
  3. wound — an injury
  4. clip — a video
  5. season — of the year
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. degree — from a university
  8. firm — a company
  9. degree — an amount
  10. clip — for paper
  11. current — happening now
  12. shower — rain
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. current — electric
  15. field — a subject
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — farmland
  18. firm — steady
  19. current — of water
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. season — in sport
  22. firm — decided
  23. degree — temperature
  24. clip — to cut

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