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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. 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. clip — for paper
  2. charge — electricity
  3. rash — a series
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. charge — a price
  6. field — a subject
  7. clip — a video
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. rash — hasty
  12. field — farmland
  13. clip — to cut
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. charge — in control
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. sharp — clever
  18. 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