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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 120 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. snap — to click
  3. cue — a signal
  4. field — a subject
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pit — a hole
  8. spring — of water
  9. cue — for pool
  10. net — in sport
  11. spring — a coil
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. march — music
  14. spring — the season
  15. field — for sport
  16. perch — the fish
  17. march — the month
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cue — a hint
  20. net — after costs
  21. pit — in a race
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. net — for catching
  24. march — the month

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