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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. field — a subject
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. clip — a video
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. field — farmland
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — a weight
  11. clip — for paper
  12. field — for sport
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. squash — to crush
  21. squash — the sport
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. fan — a supporter

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