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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: current · pop · last · field · land · snap · file · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. date — the fruit
  6. current — happening now
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. last — to go on
  9. field — farmland
  10. file — a document
  11. land — a country
  12. current — of water
  13. land — ground
  14. pop — soda
  15. current — electric
  16. file — a line of people
  17. last — finally
  18. pop — to visit
  19. snap — to click
  20. file — a tool
  21. pop — music
  22. land — to come down
  23. last — final
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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