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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. clip — for paper
  4. craft — boats
  5. can — a tin
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. field — a subject
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. clip — to cut
  13. can — to be able to
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. can — a tin
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. field — farmland
  20. band — a music group
  21. clip — a video
  22. craft — a skill
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. band — a ring

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