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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. field — for sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. field — farmland
  5. land — to come down
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. net — for catching
  8. current — of water
  9. current — happening now
  10. fall — to drop
  11. net — in sport
  12. fall — to drop
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rule — a law
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. clip — a video
  17. field — a subject
  18. rule — government
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. land — a country
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. current — electric
  23. fall — the season
  24. land — ground

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