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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. field — farmland
  4. bank — for money
  5. bank — for money
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. clip — a video
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. lean — thin
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bank — of a river
  16. cold — an illness
  17. craft — boats
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. lean — to bend
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. field — for sport
  22. rest — what's left
  23. craft — a skill
  24. field — a subject

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