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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: straw · game · degree · field · kid · stock · current · club

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — child
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — shares
  6. club — for golf
  7. club — a group
  8. degree — temperature
  9. current — electric
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. club — for dancing
  15. degree — from a university
  16. game — a match
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. kid — to tease
  19. current — of water
  20. degree — an amount
  21. game — wild animals
  22. current — happening now
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. stock — a soup base

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