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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 116 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. field — farmland
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cold — an illness
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. clip — for paper
  19. field — for sport
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. field — a subject
  23. cold — not warm
  24. nail — for a hammer

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