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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. saw — the tool
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. snap — to click
  5. fall — to drop
  6. clip — a video
  7. rash — a series
  8. ball — a dance
  9. field — for sport
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. field — farmland
  12. saw — the tool
  13. clip — for paper
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. fall — to drop
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a great time
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. rash — hasty
  20. fall — the season
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. deal — to handle
  24. clip — to cut

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