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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 120 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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. pound — a weight
  3. field — for sport
  4. swing — music
  5. field — a subject
  6. drill — a practice
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. net — in sport
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. net — for catching
  11. swing — in golf
  12. clip — to cut
  13. race — a contest
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. net — after costs
  16. drill — the tool
  17. field — farmland
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — for paper
  20. swing — to play on
  21. clip — a video
  22. drill — army training
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. race — humankind

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