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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: cold · calf · suit · clip · pop · field · date · present

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. suit — to fit
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pop — to visit
  5. cold — an illness
  6. clip — to cut
  7. field — a subject
  8. pop — music
  9. date — the fruit
  10. suit — clothes
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. present — there
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pop — soda
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. cold — not warm
  17. present — a gift
  18. field — for sport
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. present — the time now
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. field — farmland
  24. suit — in cards

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