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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: chair · clip · tear · foot · field · bowl · pass · snap

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. chair — a leader
  3. tear — from crying
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. clip — to cut
  6. field — farmland
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. field — a subject
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. snap — to click
  16. foot — a measure
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. pass — a permit
  21. field — for sport
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. clip — a video

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