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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.

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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: clip · pop · last · bulb · racket · track · straw · field

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. clip — for paper
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. last — to go on
  5. field — for sport
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. last — finally
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. last — final
  10. track — a path
  11. pop — music
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. track — a song
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. pop — soda
  16. bulb — for light
  17. field — a subject
  18. clip — to cut
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. pop — to visit
  21. clip — a video
  22. bulb — for light
  23. field — farmland
  24. track — to keep track

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