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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bark — to shout
  3. pitch — completely
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. clip — to cut
  6. track — a song
  7. field — a subject
  8. court — for sport
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. clip — a video
  13. row — to paddle
  14. court — of a king
  15. track — a path
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. row — a line
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. court — of law
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. track — to keep track

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