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

Word bank: race · pound · charge · staff · clip · field

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. staff — employees
  3. charge — in control
  4. race — a contest
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. pound — a weight
  8. field — a subject
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. clip — to cut
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — for sport
  13. staff — employees
  14. staff — a stick
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. charge — a price
  18. charge — electricity

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