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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 · perch · net · kid · swing · firm · stock

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. swing — to play on
  3. field — farmland
  4. current — electric
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. firm — decided
  7. swing — music
  8. perch — the fish
  9. current — happening now
  10. kid — child
  11. field — for sport
  12. current — of water
  13. swing — in golf
  14. net — in sport
  15. firm — a company
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. stock — shares
  19. field — a subject
  20. kid — to tease
  21. stock — goods
  22. net — after costs
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. net — for catching

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