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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wind — moving air
  3. snap — to click
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — a friend
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. field — for sport
  8. last — finally
  9. mate — to breed
  10. last — to go on
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. field — a subject
  16. tube — a container
  17. wind — moving air
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. last — final
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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