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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. date — the fruit
  4. hand — in cards
  5. field — farmland
  6. bulb — for light
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. shower — rain
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. snap — to click
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. foot — a measure
  16. bulb — for light
  17. field — a subject
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. shower — to wash
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. hand — help
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bulb — of a plant

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