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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: field · clip · trunk · pound · wind · foot · plane · arm

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — for sport
  3. clip — a video
  4. plane — a tool
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — a measure
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wind — moving air
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. clip — to cut
  16. pound — a weight
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. field — a subject
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. wind — moving air
  24. foot — part of the body

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