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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. clip — for paper
  3. face — part of the head
  4. present — the time now
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. field — a subject
  8. clip — to cut
  9. present — there
  10. clip — a video
  11. swing — in golf
  12. kid — to tease
  13. swing — to play on
  14. field — farmland
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. swing — music
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. face — to point toward
  19. kid — child
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — clever
  22. face — to confront
  23. present — a gift
  24. sharp — with an edge

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