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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 116 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
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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: sharp · clip · field · file · face · bound · can · mine

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. 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. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. face — to confront
  4. bound — tied together
  5. field — for sport
  6. file — a line of people
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. face — to point toward
  9. can — to be able to
  10. file — a tool
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bound — obliged
  13. mine — for digging
  14. face — part of the head
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — a tin
  17. bound — certain
  18. sharp — clever
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. file — a document
  21. clip — a video
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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