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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. clip — for paper
  3. suit — clothes
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. field — for sport
  6. kid — to tease
  7. field — a subject
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. fall — the season
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. clip — a video
  14. suit — to fit
  15. mate — to breed
  16. fall — to drop
  17. field — farmland
  18. suit — in cards
  19. snap — to click
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. fall — to drop
  23. clip — to cut
  24. mate — a partner

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