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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. clip — to cut
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. field — farmland
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. field — a subject
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. field — for sport
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. file — a document
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. file — a tool
  18. perch — the fish

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