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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
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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 · can · leaves · scale · field · straw · track · cold

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. track — a song
  3. clip — for paper
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. can — to be able to
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. field — a subject
  8. clip — a video
  9. scale — in music
  10. clip — to cut
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. field — for sport
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. cold — an illness
  18. scale — size or range
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. field — farmland
  21. track — to keep track
  22. can — a tin
  23. track — a path
  24. cold — not warm

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