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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. rest — what's left
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cue — for pool
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cap — a lid
  8. spring — of water
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rest — what's left
  11. cue — a signal
  12. kick — in football
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. spring — the season
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. rest — a break
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cap — of ice
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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