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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: mouse · leaves · firm · clip · hand · field · mine · wind

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. clip — a video
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. firm — a company
  7. mine — for digging
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wind — moving air
  10. firm — steady
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. hand — help
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. hand — in cards
  17. field — farmland
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. firm — decided
  20. field — a subject
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. wind — moving air
  24. leaves — of a tree

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