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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. game — wild animals
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. fall — the season
  5. field — for sport
  6. snap — to click
  7. fall — to drop
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wake — a trail
  14. spell — letters
  15. squash — the sport
  16. fall — to drop
  17. game — a match
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. squash — to crush
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. field — a subject
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

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