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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: field · squash · arm · clip · file · lie · band · bulb

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. clip — a video
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. clip — for paper
  6. squash — to crush
  7. field — for sport
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. squash — the sport
  12. bulb — for light
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. lie — to recline
  15. band — a music group
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. bulb — for light
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. clip — to cut
  20. file — a tool
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. band — a ring
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a document

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