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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. field — for sport
  3. spell — letters
  4. clip — to cut
  5. mark — a grade
  6. spell — magic
  7. club — for golf
  8. mark — a trace
  9. pound — a weight
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. club — a group
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. field — a subject
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spell — a short time
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. club — for dancing
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. clip — a video
  23. field — farmland
  24. pound — to hit hard

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