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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. roll — a cake
  3. clip — for paper
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — a subject
  6. capital — a city
  7. roll — a list
  8. season — of the year
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. chest — of your body
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. track — to keep track
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. clip — a video
  15. field — for sport
  16. craft — boats
  17. craft — a skill
  18. track — a path
  19. season — in sport
  20. capital — money
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. chest — of your body
  23. track — a song
  24. chest — a box

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