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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wound — an injury
  4. field — farmland
  5. squash — to crush
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. wound — an injury
  9. current — happening now
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. chip — to eat
  12. band — a music group
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. current — of water
  16. chip — for betting
  17. field — for sport
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. squash — the sport
  20. current — electric
  21. chair — a leader
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. field — a subject

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