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

Word bank: field · pound · file · dip · clip · tear

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. tear — to rip
  3. dip — to sink
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. tear — from crying
  6. field — for sport
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a document
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pound — a weight
  12. clip — to cut
  13. field — farmland
  14. clip — a video
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. field — a subject

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