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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 124 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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · field · scale · wind · coach · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. field — for sport
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wind — moving air
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. cell — in biology
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wind — moving air

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