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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. ground — a position
  3. field — farmland
  4. clip — for paper
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. field — a subject
  8. wax — to grow
  9. bound — certain
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. ground — crushed
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bound — tied together
  17. ground — the earth
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. bound — obliged
  20. perch — the fish
  21. saw — the tool
  22. clip — a video
  23. saw — the tool
  24. kick — in football

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