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

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. 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. coach — a trainer
  2. bass — low music
  3. rash — hasty
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. foot — a measure
  7. field — farmland
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. rash — a series
  11. bark — to shout
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. sharp — clever
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. snap — to click
  19. bass — the fish
  20. field — a subject
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. 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