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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: mine · content · field · degree · straw · current · snap · bowl

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. field — a subject
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. degree — from a university
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. field — for sport
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. degree — temperature
  14. content — the amount
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. field — farmland
  18. degree — an amount
  19. current — electric
  20. content — happy
  21. mine — for digging
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. current — of water

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