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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. clip — for paper
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. field — for sport
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. mark — a grade
  8. swing — to play on
  9. shower — rain
  10. mark — a trace
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. shower — to wash
  13. field — a subject
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. bark — to shout
  19. clip — a video
  20. swing — in golf
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. swing — music
  24. coach — a trainer

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