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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. field — for sport
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. mug — to rob
  5. mug — a cup
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. clip — to cut
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. march — the month
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. clip — a video
  15. kid — child
  16. march — music
  17. root — the cause
  18. perch — the fish
  19. mug — a face
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — of a plant
  23. kid — to tease
  24. march — the month

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