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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 120 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. object — a thing
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. object — to protest
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. field — a subject
  7. fall — to drop
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. kid — child
  11. clip — a video
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to click
  14. clip — to cut
  15. kid — to tease
  16. march — the month
  17. fall — the season
  18. march — music
  19. field — farmland
  20. fall — to drop
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. clip — for paper
  23. object — an aim
  24. march — the month

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