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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a match
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. row — to paddle
  7. field — a subject
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. clip — to cut
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. spring — of water
  13. clip — a video
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bass — the fish
  18. field — for sport
  19. bass — low music
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. spring — the season
  22. row — a line
  23. clip — for paper
  24. spring — a coil

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