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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. clip — to cut
  5. suit — to fit
  6. cue — a hint
  7. march — music
  8. pop — soda
  9. spring — of water
  10. pop — to visit
  11. suit — clothes
  12. object — a thing
  13. suit — in cards
  14. march — the month
  15. clip — for paper
  16. spring — the season
  17. march — the month
  18. pop — music
  19. clip — a video
  20. field — for sport
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cue — a signal
  23. object — an aim
  24. cue — for pool

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