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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 120 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: wound · pound · bay · bowl · chip · clip · cap · field

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. field — farmland
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. cap — of ice
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. clip — a video
  8. chip — for betting
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. cap — a lid
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. wound — an injury
  14. field — for sport
  15. chip — to eat
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. pound — a weight
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. field — a subject
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cap — a hat
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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