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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. field — farmland
  3. object — to protest
  4. field — for sport
  5. clip — a video
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. file — a tool
  8. object — an aim
  9. pass — a permit
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. spring — a coil
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. spring — of water
  15. clip — for paper
  16. pound — a weight
  17. clip — to cut
  18. object — a thing
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. spring — the season
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. file — a document
  24. field — a subject

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