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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: tube · current · march · saw · kid · row · field · clip

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. current — of water
  3. saw — the tool
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. field — a subject
  6. row — a line
  7. field — farmland
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. clip — a video
  11. tube — a container
  12. kid — to tease
  13. clip — to cut
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. kid — child
  18. clip — for paper
  19. field — for sport
  20. row — to paddle
  21. current — happening now
  22. saw — the tool
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — in a tire

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