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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. saw — the tool
  4. field — farmland
  5. can — to be able to
  6. field — a subject
  7. clip — to cut
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. dip — to sink
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. saw — the tool
  13. can — a tin
  14. bat — the animal
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. perch — the fish
  18. land — a country
  19. can — a tin
  20. clip — for paper
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. field — for sport
  23. clip — a video
  24. perch — for a bird

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