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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. face — part of the head
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. field — a subject
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. row — to paddle
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. face — to point toward
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. row — a line
  12. face — to confront
  13. kid — to tease
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. band — a music group
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. field — for sport
  19. band — a ring
  20. kid — child
  21. clip — to cut
  22. craft — a skill
  23. craft — boats
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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