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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 116 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: kid · object · last · content · nail · field · current · wake

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. last — final
  3. current — of water
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — happy
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. last — finally
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. field — a subject
  12. kid — child
  13. object — an aim
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. object — to protest
  16. current — electric
  17. kid — to tease
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — a trail
  20. current — happening now
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. object — a thing
  23. last — to go on
  24. field — for sport

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