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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. spring — the season
  4. cap — a lid
  5. spring — a coil
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — a group
  8. cap — a hat
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. last — finally
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. last — final
  13. cap — of ice
  14. field — a subject
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. field — farmland
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. spring — of water
  20. last — to go on
  21. field — for sport
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. club — for golf

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