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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. clip — to cut
  5. shower — to wash
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. rest — a break
  8. field — for sport
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. roll — a cake
  11. clip — for paper
  12. roll — a list
  13. clip — a video
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — rain
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. rest — what's left
  18. mine — for digging
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. lie — to recline
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. rest — what's left

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