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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 116 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. field — farmland
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bulb — for light
  5. key — in music
  6. clip — a video
  7. scale — size or range
  8. cold — an illness
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. field — a subject
  13. bulb — for light
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. cold — not warm
  17. key — the most important part
  18. scale — in music
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. firm — steady
  21. firm — a company
  22. key — for a lock
  23. clip — to cut
  24. firm — decided

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