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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. spell — letters
  3. mark — a trace
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. clip — a video
  6. drill — the tool
  7. fine — all right
  8. field — a subject
  9. spell — a short time
  10. can — a tin
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. field — farmland
  13. clip — to cut
  14. can — a tin
  15. cell — a phone
  16. mark — a grade
  17. drill — a practice
  18. field — for sport
  19. drill — army training
  20. fine — high quality
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. spell — magic

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