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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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. clip — a video
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. row — to paddle
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. rule — government
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. clip — for paper
  10. rule — a law
  11. key — in music
  12. row — a line
  13. key — for a lock
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. capital — a city
  17. field — for sport
  18. key — the most important part
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pound — a weight
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. clip — to cut
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — money

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