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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. field — for sport
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. pop — music
  5. bark — to shout
  6. pop — to visit
  7. stem — to come from
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. field — a subject
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. pop — soda
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. clip — a video
  14. field — farmland
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. hand — help
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. clip — for paper
  24. stem — a stem cell

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