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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. squash — the sport
  3. clip — a video
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. pit — a hole
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. game — a match
  10. mark — a trace
  11. cap — a lid
  12. field — farmland
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cap — a hat
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. field — a subject
  19. mark — a grade
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cap — of ice
  23. squash — to crush
  24. pit — in a race

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