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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. snap — to click
  3. drill — the tool
  4. perch — the fish
  5. root — of a word
  6. field — farmland
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. drill — army training
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. field — a subject
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. pass — a permit
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. root — the cause
  18. net — after costs
  19. game — a match
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. drill — a practice
  22. root — of a plant
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. game — wild animals

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