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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 124 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. clip — for paper
  3. charge — a price
  4. roll — a list
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. rush — hurry
  9. roll — a cake
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. field — for sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. spring — a coil
  14. field — a subject
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. field — farmland
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. charge — electricity
  22. charge — in control
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. clip — a video

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