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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
468
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 · field · lie · mine · ball · pitch · coach · file

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. field — a subject
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. file — a tool
  9. ball — a great time
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. field — for sport
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. ball — a dance
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. file — a document
  17. pitch — completely
  18. mine — for digging
  19. file — a line of people
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lie — to recline
  22. clip — to cut
  23. field — farmland
  24. mine — an explosive

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