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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. fall — the season
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. season — of the year
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. season — in sport
  8. fall — to drop
  9. spell — letters
  10. field — farmland
  11. spell — a short time
  12. fall — to drop
  13. field — a subject
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. spell — magic
  18. field — for sport

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