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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  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. rush — to hurry
  3. field — for sport
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. clip — a video
  7. mine — for digging
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. staff — employees
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rush — hurry
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. scale — size or range
  18. field — farmland
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. staff — employees
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — in music
  23. staff — a stick
  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