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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. current — electric
  4. field — a subject
  5. swing — to play on
  6. swing — music
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. field — farmland
  11. bass — low music
  12. current — of water
  13. bass — the fish
  14. swing — in golf
  15. club — for dancing
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. club — a group
  20. club — for golf
  21. field — for sport
  22. current — happening now
  23. kick — in football
  24. bat — the animal

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