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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: field · current · pound · clip · saw · drill · coach · rush

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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. current — of water
  2. rush — hurry
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. saw — the tool
  5. drill — a practice
  6. pound — a weight
  7. clip — for paper
  8. saw — the tool
  9. drill — army training
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — farmland
  12. current — electric
  13. clip — to cut
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. clip — a video
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. field — for sport
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. drill — the tool
  24. current — happening now

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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