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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. field — a subject
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. degree — temperature
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. degree — from a university
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. field — for sport
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. bark — to shout
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. degree — an amount
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. lie — to recline
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. field — farmland
  24. fan — to cool the air

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