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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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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: stand · clip · saw · cell · club · field

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  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. stand — on your feet
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. field — a subject
  4. clip — for paper
  5. club — for golf
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — a phone
  8. club — a group
  9. stand — to bear
  10. clip — a video
  11. field — for sport
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. field — farmland
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. club — for dancing
  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