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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. field — for sport
  3. suit — clothes
  4. clip — to cut
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — a video
  8. wound — an injury
  9. field — a subject
  10. suit — to fit
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — to be able to
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. fall — to drop
  15. stem — to come from
  16. clip — for paper
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. suit — in cards
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. field — farmland
  21. fall — to drop
  22. can — a tin
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. fall — the season

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