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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. clip — for paper
  4. field — farmland
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. field — for sport
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. object — a thing
  9. clip — a video
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bulb — for light
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bear — the animal
  21. field — a subject
  22. object — an aim
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. fan — a supporter

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