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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. field — for sport
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. charge — electricity
  7. court — for sport
  8. charge — in control
  9. bear — the animal
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tube — the underground
  16. mark — a trace
  17. court — of a king
  18. mark — a grade
  19. wound — an injury
  20. field — a subject
  21. bear — the animal
  22. court — of law
  23. clip — for paper
  24. charge — a price

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