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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. wind — moving air
  5. lean — thin
  6. lean — to bend
  7. wound — an injury
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. fine — high quality
  12. fine — all right
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. clip — a video
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wind — moving air
  22. dip — to sink
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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