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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: march · clip · firm · fall · rule · fork · field · straw

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. clip — a video
  4. field — for sport
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rule — government
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. march — music
  9. fall — the season
  10. field — farmland
  11. firm — steady
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fall — to drop
  14. firm — decided
  15. firm — a company
  16. clip — to cut
  17. march — the month
  18. fork — in a road
  19. rule — a law
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. march — the month

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