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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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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: straw · clip · net · present · object · field

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. net — for catching
  3. field — a subject
  4. net — in sport
  5. present — the time now
  6. net — after costs
  7. clip — for paper
  8. field — for sport
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. field — farmland
  11. object — a thing
  12. present — a gift
  13. clip — a video
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. present — there
  16. object — an aim
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. clip — to cut

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