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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. field — a subject
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wound — an injury
  6. current — of water
  7. capital — a city
  8. current — electric
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. current — happening now
  12. wound — an injury
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. kid — child
  15. net — in sport
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. net — for catching
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. net — after costs

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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