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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. game — wild animals
  3. rest — what's left
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. field — farmland
  7. tear — from crying
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. field — a subject
  10. band — a music group
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rest — what's left
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. vault — a safe
  15. perch — the fish
  16. game — a match
  17. band — a ring
  18. clip — for paper
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. field — for sport
  21. rest — a break
  22. clip — a video
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. tear — to rip

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