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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.

Make a worksheet

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
YesNo
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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: net · current · chair · lie · stick · rash · hide · field

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. current — electric
  5. field — for sport
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. rash — a series
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. rash — hasty
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. lie — to recline
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. field — a subject
  15. current — happening now
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — in sport
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. field — farmland
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. current — of water
  22. chair — a leader
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. net — after costs

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