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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: last · current · deal · bat · row · mine · field · roll

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. current — electric
  3. bat — the animal
  4. roll — a cake
  5. row — to paddle
  6. current — of water
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. current — happening now
  9. last — to go on
  10. roll — a list
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. row — a line
  22. deal — to handle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. last — finally

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