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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: mouse · pass · cell · straw · field · roll · march · clip

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. field — farmland
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. clip — to cut
  9. roll — a cake
  10. march — the month
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. march — the month
  14. pass — a permit
  15. clip — a video
  16. cell — in biology
  17. march — music
  18. roll — a list
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. field — for sport
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cell — a phone
  24. roll — on a roll

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