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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. field — farmland
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. mate — a partner
  9. lie — to recline
  10. scale — in music
  11. field — a subject
  12. sharp — clever
  13. scale — size or range
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. field — for sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — to breed
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. snap — to click
  24. game — a match

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