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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 124 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: bark · foot · field · clip · fine · staff · drill · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. field — a subject
  4. fine — high quality
  5. bark — to shout
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — army training
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. row — to paddle
  12. drill — a practice
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. foot — a measure
  16. staff — employees
  17. field — farmland
  18. staff — employees
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. staff — a stick
  21. clip — to cut
  22. field — for sport
  23. fine — all right
  24. foot — the bottom

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