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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: game · current · wave · clip · field · fine · wound · key

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. game — wild animals
  4. fine — all right
  5. game — a match
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. wound — an injury
  8. current — electric
  9. field — a subject
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. key — the most important part
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. current — of water
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. key — for a lock
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. field — farmland
  20. wound — an injury
  21. clip — to cut
  22. current — happening now
  23. key — in music
  24. field — for sport

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