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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. perch — the fish
  3. clip — to cut
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. game — a match
  7. net — for catching
  8. firm — decided
  9. rule — a law
  10. firm — a company
  11. net — in sport
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bore — to drill
  16. firm — steady
  17. bore — to tire
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. clip — a video
  22. rule — government
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. net — after costs

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