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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: field · clip · straw · pit · file · fan · wind · ball

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. file — a line of people
  7. pit — a hole
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. field — a subject
  11. file — a document
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — farmland
  16. ball — a dance
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. file — a tool
  19. field — for sport
  20. ball — a great time
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. wind — moving air

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