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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: swing · field · march · clip · calf · cold · staff · chip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. chip — for betting
  4. field — a subject
  5. swing — in golf
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. clip — to cut
  10. march — the month
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — an illness
  14. swing — to play on
  15. chip — to eat
  16. cold — not warm
  17. staff — employees
  18. clip — a video
  19. swing — music
  20. staff — employees
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. march — music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. staff — a stick

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