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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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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: tear · deal · clip · mouse · root · straw · fall · field

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fall — to drop
  5. field — for sport
  6. fall — to drop
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. fall — the season
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. root — of a word
  12. clip — a video
  13. root — the cause
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. tear — from crying
  18. root — of a plant
  19. clip — for paper
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. field — farmland

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