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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. pop — music
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. tear — from crying
  12. sharp — clever
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pop — to visit
  16. tear — to rip
  17. roll — a cake
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. field — for sport
  20. roll — a list
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. clip — a video
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. pop — soda

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