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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. mug — to rob
  3. spell — magic
  4. squash — to crush
  5. chip — to eat
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. field — a subject
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. field — farmland
  12. spell — letters
  13. rock — music
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. spell — a short time
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mug — a cup
  20. rock — a stone
  21. squash — the sport
  22. wound — an injury
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. mug — a face

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