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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. can — to be able to
  3. snap — to click
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. net — after costs
  6. field — a subject
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. net — for catching
  10. pit — in a race
  11. wind — moving air
  12. season — of the year
  13. field — farmland
  14. net — in sport
  15. wind — moving air
  16. can — a tin
  17. pit — a hole
  18. can — a tin
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. field — for sport
  23. bark — to shout
  24. season — in sport

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