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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — for paper
  3. foot — a measure
  4. field — a subject
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. firm — steady
  11. clip — to cut
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. race — the arms race
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. firm — a company
  22. race — a contest
  23. firm — decided
  24. race — humankind

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