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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. field — a subject
  3. firm — steady
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. field — farmland
  6. clip — for paper
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. lean — to bend
  9. firm — decided
  10. firm — a company
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. present — a gift
  13. clip — a video
  14. lean — thin
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. press — a publisher
  17. present — the time now
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. press — newspapers
  20. band — a ring
  21. present — there
  22. band — a music group
  23. press — to push
  24. field — for sport

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