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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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Word bank
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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: field · pop · kid · hand · current · stand · rash · wound

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. kid — child
  3. hand — in cards
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. current — electric
  6. rash — hasty
  7. current — of water
  8. rash — a series
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. pop — soda
  12. field — farmland
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. stand — to bear
  15. current — happening now
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. kid — to tease
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. hand — help
  21. pop — music
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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