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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 116 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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. ball — a great time
  3. clip — to cut
  4. field — a subject
  5. wind — moving air
  6. clip — a video
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bear — the animal
  9. present — a gift
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. field — for sport
  12. clip — for paper
  13. present — the time now
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. bear — the animal
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. wound — an injury
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. field — farmland
  24. ball — a dance

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