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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · snap · field · current · bat · racket · branch · hand

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. field — for sport
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bat — the animal
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. field — farmland
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. branch — a division
  10. snap — to click
  11. current — of water
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. field — a subject
  20. current — electric
  21. current — happening now
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. hand — help
  24. racket — a loud noise

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