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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. charge — in control
  3. field — a subject
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. rash — a series
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. march — music
  9. rash — hasty
  10. bass — the fish
  11. charge — a price
  12. bass — low music
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. march — the month
  15. charge — electricity
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. field — for sport
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. clip — for paper
  20. march — the month
  21. clip — a video
  22. saw — the tool
  23. clip — to cut
  24. mine — for digging

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