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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — for paper
  3. net — after costs
  4. can — to be able to
  5. can — a tin
  6. can — a tin
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. net — for catching
  9. field — farmland
  10. pit — in a race
  11. clip — a video
  12. march — the month
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. march — music
  16. net — in sport
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. pit — a hole
  19. field — for sport
  20. ball — a great time
  21. ball — a dance
  22. march — the month
  23. rush — hurry
  24. field — a subject

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