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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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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: current · root · field · deal · chest · season · racket · cold

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. season — of the year
  3. chest — of your body
  4. current — happening now
  5. current — of water
  6. current — electric
  7. field — for sport
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — farmland
  11. season — in sport
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. root — of a word
  15. field — a subject
  16. chest — a box
  17. deal — to handle
  18. cold — not warm
  19. root — of a plant
  20. root — the cause
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. cold — an illness

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