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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 116 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: scale · field · snap · bound · coach · pitch · clip · wound

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  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. field — for sport
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. scale — size or range
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. scale — in music
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. field — farmland
  13. clip — for paper
  14. field — a subject
  15. bound — obliged
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bound — certain
  21. wound — an injury
  22. pitch — completely
  23. bound — tied together
  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