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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. swing — in golf
  6. field — a subject
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. fine — high quality
  10. clip — a video
  11. mark — a grade
  12. field — for sport
  13. mark — a trace
  14. bark — to shout
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. swing — to play on
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. fine — all right
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. clip — for paper
  22. swing — music
  23. field — farmland
  24. clip — to cut

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