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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 · field · mine · hand · stand · tear · dip · foot

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. hand — help
  3. current — happening now
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. current — electric
  8. tear — to rip
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. foot — a measure
  11. field — for sport
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. mine — for digging
  15. field — a subject
  16. stand — to bear
  17. current — of water
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. field — farmland
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. tear — from crying

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