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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. club — for dancing
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. clip — a video
  7. field — a subject
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. pass — a permit
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. club — for golf
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. clip — to cut
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. wake — a trail
  22. club — a group
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

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