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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. field — for sport
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. land — to come down
  5. field — farmland
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wind — moving air
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. chair — a leader
  13. field — a subject
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. clip — a video
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. clip — for paper
  19. land — a country
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. wake — a trail
  22. land — ground
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. chair — to sit on

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