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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. field — a subject
  3. hand — help
  4. field — for sport
  5. prune — to trim
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. field — farmland
  11. mate — a friend
  12. mate — a partner
  13. perch — the fish
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in biology
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. hand — in cards
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. clip — for paper
  23. mate — to breed
  24. clip — a video

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