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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. tube — the underground
  4. ball — a dance
  5. bank — for money
  6. tube — a container
  7. ball — a great time
  8. mark — a grade
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. field — a subject
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. snap — to click
  17. sharp — clever
  18. field — farmland
  19. bank — for money
  20. field — for sport
  21. bank — of a river
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. mark — a trace

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