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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spring — a coil
  8. object — an aim
  9. field — a subject
  10. spring — the season
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. object — to protest
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. field — for sport
  17. spring — of water
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. wind — moving air
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. clip — a video
  23. object — a thing
  24. calf — a young animal

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