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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. perch — the fish
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. field — farmland
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. field — for sport
  8. pound — a weight
  9. clip — to cut
  10. field — a subject
  11. clip — a video
  12. track — a path
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. track — a song
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. clip — for paper
  20. track — to keep track
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. bore — to drill

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