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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. kid — to tease
  3. clip — a video
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mate — to breed
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. kid — child
  8. field — farmland
  9. suit — clothes
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. snap — to click
  12. field — for sport
  13. mate — a partner
  14. clip — for paper
  15. suit — in cards
  16. suit — to fit
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mate — a friend

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