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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. current — electric
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. game — a match
  8. mine — for digging
  9. field — farmland
  10. kid — child
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. field — for sport
  13. current — happening now
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. field — a subject
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. game — wild animals
  18. foot — a measure
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. current — of water
  21. kid — to tease
  22. season — of the year
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. season — in sport

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