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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. prune — to trim
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. field — a subject
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. row — a line
  8. land — a country
  9. prune — to trim
  10. field — for sport
  11. land — ground
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. roll — a cake
  14. bear — the animal
  15. roll — a list
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. dip — to sink
  18. field — farmland
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. row — to paddle
  21. bear — the animal
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. land — to come down
  24. bear — to put up with

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