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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. scale — in music
  3. can — a tin
  4. clip — to cut
  5. scale — size or range
  6. field — a subject
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. clip — a video
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. rash — a series
  12. present — there
  13. rash — hasty
  14. can — to be able to
  15. present — the time now
  16. can — a tin
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pound — a weight
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. present — a gift
  24. pound — for dogs

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