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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. shower — to wash
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. clip — a video
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. clip — to cut
  9. field — for sport
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. last — final
  14. field — farmland
  15. last — finally
  16. bound — obliged
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bound — certain
  19. shower — rain
  20. last — to go on
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. bound — tied together
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. hide — to keep secret

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