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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. march — the month
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. field — for sport
  5. clip — for paper
  6. field — a subject
  7. march — the month
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. row — a line
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. mate — a partner
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. mate — to breed
  16. clip — to cut
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. mate — a friend
  19. clip — a video
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bore — to drill
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. field — farmland
  24. march — music

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