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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — hurry
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. lie — to recline
  6. clip — a video
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. file — a document
  9. court — of a king
  10. perch — the fish
  11. court — of law
  12. court — for sport
  13. clip — to cut
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a great time
  16. file — a tool
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. clip — for paper

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