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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. wind — moving air
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. key — the most important part
  8. wind — moving air
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. field — farmland
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. key — in music
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. field — a subject
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. field — for sport
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. key — for a lock

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