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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a match
  3. field — for sport
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ground — a position
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. spell — a short time
  9. spell — letters
  10. ground — the earth
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. chip — for betting
  13. ground — crushed
  14. field — a subject
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. clip — a video
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bear — the animal
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. bear — the animal
  21. spell — magic
  22. chip — to eat
  23. clip — to cut
  24. field — farmland

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