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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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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: plane · cue · clip · field · cold · chair · rest · arm

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. chair — a leader
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. cue — a signal
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cue — a hint
  13. clip — a video
  14. plane — a tool
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cue — for pool
  17. cold — an illness
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. field — farmland
  20. clip — to cut
  21. field — a subject
  22. rest — a break
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. rest — what's left

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