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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 120 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 · mark · cold · stand · rush · current · track · present

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. field — farmland
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. current — of water
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. mark — a grade
  9. current — happening now
  10. track — a path
  11. present — a gift
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. track — a song
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mark — a trace
  17. track — to keep track
  18. present — there
  19. current — electric
  20. stand — to bear
  21. cold — not warm
  22. present — the time now
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. cold — an illness

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