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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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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 · dip · field · hand · staff · fine · march · pit

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. march — the month
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. pit — in a race
  5. clip — to cut
  6. staff — employees
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. staff — employees
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — for sport
  11. clip — for paper
  12. staff — a stick
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. fine — all right
  15. march — music
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. field — farmland
  18. pit — a hole
  19. dip — to sink
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. field — a subject
  24. march — the month

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