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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 116 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. clip — a video
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. field — a subject
  7. object — to protest
  8. tube — a container
  9. board — to get on
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — an aim
  15. clip — for paper
  16. field — for sport
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. tube — the underground
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. board — a committee
  24. clip — to cut

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