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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
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: can · rush · wind · mate · clip · band · field · fork

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. mate — to breed
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. clip — a video
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. field — farmland
  8. rush — hurry
  9. field — a subject
  10. can — to be able to
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a music group
  15. mate — a partner
  16. clip — for paper
  17. can — a tin
  18. can — a tin
  19. fork — in a road
  20. wind — moving air
  21. band — a ring
  22. mate — a friend
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. field — for sport

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