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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 120 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. present — there
  3. snap — to click
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — happy
  7. field — farmland
  8. bass — low music
  9. present — a gift
  10. content — the amount
  11. net — after costs
  12. bass — the fish
  13. field — a subject
  14. present — the time now
  15. field — for sport
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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