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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: race · straw · field · press · racket · current · tube · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. current — of water
  4. current — electric
  5. race — a contest
  6. tube — a container
  7. content — the amount
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. race — humankind
  11. press — a publisher
  12. race — the arms race
  13. current — happening now
  14. press — to push
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. tube — the underground
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. field — for sport
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. press — newspapers
  24. racket — for tennis

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