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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spring — the season
  4. wound — an injury
  5. field — for sport
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rest — a break
  8. clip — for paper
  9. ball — a great time
  10. clip — a video
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. field — a subject
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. ball — a dance
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. rest — what's left
  24. field — farmland

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