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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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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bound — obliged
  3. chip — for betting
  4. clip — a video
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bound — tied together
  7. field — for sport
  8. chip — to eat
  9. clip — for paper
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. clip — to cut
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. spell — magic
  14. bound — certain
  15. spell — letters
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. field — farmland
  18. chip — in a computer

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