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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: racket · bowl · spring · firm · wind · field · kid · clip

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. field — farmland
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. clip — a video
  5. firm — decided
  6. firm — a company
  7. clip — for paper
  8. firm — steady
  9. spring — of water
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. clip — to cut
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. spring — a coil
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. field — for sport
  17. kid — child
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. spring — the season
  21. field — a subject
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. wind — moving air
  24. racket — a loud noise

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