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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: hide · wind · wound · perch · wake · field · current · cell

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cell — a phone
  5. perch — the fish
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. cell — in biology
  13. current — electric
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. field — farmland
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. current — of water
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. current — happening now

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