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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: snap · fork · cell · coach · band · pass · clip · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. pass — a permit
  4. fork — in a road
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. band — a music group
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. snap — to click
  13. field — for sport
  14. cell — a phone
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. clip — a video
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. band — a ring
  21. clip — to cut
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. field — farmland
  24. cell — in biology

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