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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · current · swing · field · pound · hand · tear · dip

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wind — moving air
  3. hand — in cards
  4. current — happening now
  5. pound — a weight
  6. hand — help
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. current — electric
  10. tear — to rip
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. swing — in golf
  13. swing — to play on
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. tear — from crying
  16. swing — music
  17. wind — moving air
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. dip — to sink
  20. field — for sport
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. current — of water
  23. field — farmland
  24. tear — from crying

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