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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 120 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pitch — completely
  3. field — farmland
  4. key — for a lock
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. field — a subject
  9. chair — a leader
  10. file — a line of people
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. file — a document
  13. field — for sport
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. band — a music group
  16. clip — a video
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. key — the most important part
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. key — in music
  21. file — a tool
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. clip — to cut

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