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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. clip — to cut
  3. charge — electricity
  4. clip — for paper
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. charge — a price
  7. field — for sport
  8. mug — a face
  9. mug — to rob
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. kid — child
  13. chair — a leader
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. clip — a video
  17. charge — in control
  18. mug — a cup
  19. field — farmland
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. kick — in football
  24. chair — to sit on

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