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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — to trim
  6. track — to keep track
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. track — a path
  9. field — farmland
  10. prune — to trim
  11. branch — a division
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. clip — a video
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. track — a song
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — for sport
  18. foot — a measure
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — a series
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. pound — a weight

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