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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  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. snap — to speak sharply
  2. field — a subject
  3. ball — a great time
  4. field — farmland
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. spell — a short time
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. snap — to click
  10. hand — in cards
  11. ball — a dance
  12. fine — all right
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — letters
  15. board — to get on
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. hand — help
  19. fine — high quality
  20. board — a committee
  21. rash — a series
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. rash — hasty
  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