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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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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bear — the animal
  5. file — a line of people
  6. clip — a video
  7. field — for sport
  8. press — a publisher
  9. file — a document
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. file — a tool
  14. press — newspapers
  15. field — farmland
  16. press — to push
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bass — 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