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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. field — farmland
  3. scale — size or range
  4. snap — to click
  5. bear — the animal
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. field — a subject
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. mine — for digging
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. firm — decided
  14. scale — in music
  15. bear — the animal
  16. firm — a company
  17. field — for sport
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. rash — a series
  23. firm — steady
  24. mine — belonging to me

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