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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. land — to come down
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. scale — in music
  7. scale — size or range
  8. field — a subject
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. snap — to click
  11. land — ground
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. field — farmland
  14. fine — all right
  15. fine — high quality
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. spring — a coil
  18. land — a country
  19. spring — of water
  20. kick — in football
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. clip — to cut
  23. field — for sport
  24. fine — a penalty

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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