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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. field — a subject
  3. present — a gift
  4. spell — letters
  5. present — there
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. field — for sport
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — a video
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. spell — magic
  16. spell — a short time
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. field — farmland
  19. clip — for paper
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cue — for pool
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cue — a signal
  24. present — the time now

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