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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: fine · band · bowl · charge · wound · clip · field · kid

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. fine — high quality
  5. charge — in control
  6. kid — to tease
  7. clip — to cut
  8. band — a music group
  9. field — farmland
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. field — a subject
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. charge — a price
  14. charge — electricity
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. clip — for paper
  19. fine — all right
  20. kid — child
  21. clip — a video
  22. band — a ring
  23. field — for sport
  24. bowl — to roll

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