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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: clip · straw · lean · face · pit · club · field · craft

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. club — for dancing
  3. face — part of the head
  4. lean — thin
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. face — to point toward
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. clip — for paper
  10. field — farmland
  11. craft — boats
  12. clip — to cut
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. craft — a skill
  15. clip — a video
  16. pit — a hole
  17. club — for golf
  18. field — for sport
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. club — a group
  22. lean — to bend
  23. pit — in a race
  24. field — a subject

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