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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bore — to tire
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. spring — the season
  6. field — a subject
  7. stand — to bear
  8. rock — music
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. clip — a video
  11. rock — a stone
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. field — for sport
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. spring — of water
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. spell — magic
  19. spring — a coil
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bore — to drill
  22. spell — letters
  23. spell — a short time
  24. field — farmland

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