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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. scale — in music
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. shower — to wash
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. field — farmland
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. wake — a trail
  11. mug — a face
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. scale — size or range
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. mug — to rob
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. field — a subject
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. mug — a cup
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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