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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: field · stick · rash · coach · kid · cell · cold · current

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. field — a subject
  4. cell — a phone
  5. field — for sport
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. field — farmland
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. rash — hasty
  12. current — electric
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rash — a series
  17. kid — to tease
  18. current — of water
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cold — an illness
  21. kid — child
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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