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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. snap — to click
  3. field — for sport
  4. swing — music
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. swing — to play on
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. saw — the tool
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. saw — the tool
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — humankind
  14. swing — in golf
  15. roll — a cake
  16. roll — a list
  17. last — finally
  18. last — final
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. last — to go on
  22. race — a contest
  23. field — a subject
  24. calf — a young animal

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