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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. prune — to trim
  4. hand — help
  5. field — a subject
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. ground — the earth
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bulb — for light
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. ground — crushed
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bulb — for light
  19. hand — in cards
  20. field — for sport
  21. snap — to click
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. field — farmland

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