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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 116 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 · field · charge · spell · kid · game · wound · degree

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. field — a subject
  3. current — electric
  4. kid — child
  5. degree — an amount
  6. field — for sport
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wound — an injury
  9. spell — magic
  10. charge — a price
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. kid — to tease
  13. degree — temperature
  14. game — a match
  15. degree — from a university
  16. charge — electricity
  17. game — wild animals
  18. field — farmland
  19. charge — in control
  20. spell — a short time
  21. current — happening now
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. spell — letters
  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