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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: hand · bark · craft · coach · clip · swing · field · calf

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. clip — to cut
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. swing — to play on
  6. field — farmland
  7. bark — to shout
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. craft — a skill
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. clip — for paper
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. field — a subject
  15. swing — in golf
  16. field — for sport
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. hand — help
  19. craft — boats
  20. hand — in cards
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. swing — music
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. calf — a young animal

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