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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a partner
  6. chip — for betting
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. plane — a tool
  10. clip — a video
  11. mate — a friend
  12. spring — a coil
  13. chip — to eat
  14. fall — the season
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fall — to drop
  17. spring — of water
  18. field — farmland
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. clip — to cut

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