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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. field — for sport
  3. fork — in a road
  4. field — a subject
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cap — a hat
  7. craft — boats
  8. cap — of ice
  9. bear — the animal
  10. field — farmland
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. craft — a skill
  14. clip — a video
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cap — a lid
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. season — of the year
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. season — in 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