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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. field — farmland
  3. stand — to bear
  4. clip — for paper
  5. plane — a tool
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. clip — to cut
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. clip — a video
  11. rock — a stone
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. spell — letters
  18. spring — a coil
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. spell — magic
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. spell — a short time
  24. stand — for spectators

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