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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
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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: clip · rock · track · arm · field · kid · mine · lash

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. field — for sport
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. clip — for paper
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. track — a path
  13. rock — music
  14. clip — to cut
  15. field — a subject
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. kid — to tease
  19. rock — a stone
  20. track — a song
  21. field — farmland
  22. track — to keep track
  23. clip — a video
  24. kid — child

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