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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. saw — the tool
  5. key — in music
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. saw — the tool
  9. key — the most important part
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. field — for sport
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — crushed
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. deal — to handle
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. ground — the earth
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. key — for a lock

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