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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kick — in football
  5. field — a subject
  6. club — a group
  7. club — for golf
  8. clip — to cut
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — a tool
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. field — farmland
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. rash — a series
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — hasty
  20. clip — a video
  21. club — for dancing
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. field — for sport

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