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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. fall — the season
  3. game — a match
  4. suit — clothes
  5. fall — to drop
  6. field — for sport
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cap — of ice
  10. ball — a great time
  11. suit — in cards
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. cap — a hat
  14. clip — to cut
  15. fall — to drop
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. cap — a lid
  18. clip — a video
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. suit — to fit
  21. game — wild animals
  22. field — a subject
  23. ball — a dance
  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