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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 120 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: bat · pop · bark · field · fan · arm · chest · current

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bat — the animal
  3. chest — a box
  4. current — of water
  5. pop — to visit
  6. chest — of your body
  7. current — electric
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. pop — music
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. current — happening now
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. field — farmland
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — a subject
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bark — to shout
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. pop — soda
  24. bat — in an idiom

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