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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 ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. coach — a trainer
  2. field — for sport
  3. clip — for paper
  4. roll — a list
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. roll — a cake
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. bulb — for light
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. field — farmland
  14. board — to get on
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. field — a subject
  18. board — a committee
  19. capital — money
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. bulb — for light
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. clip — to cut
  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