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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. toast — bread
  3. field — for sport
  4. plane — a tool
  5. swing — in golf
  6. spring — the season
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. swing — to play on
  12. field — a subject
  13. swing — music
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. spring — a coil
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. spring — of water
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. clip — a video

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