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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: ball · kid · file · shower · firm · lie · clip · field

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. field — for sport
  3. ball — a dance
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. ball — a great time
  6. clip — for paper
  7. kid — to tease
  8. field — a subject
  9. lie — to recline
  10. firm — decided
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. file — a tool
  13. shower — rain
  14. field — farmland
  15. firm — a company
  16. shower — to wash
  17. file — a line of people
  18. clip — to cut
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. firm — steady
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. file — a document
  24. kid — child

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