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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. field — farmland
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. present — a gift
  6. row — a line
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pop — to visit
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. pop — music
  12. pop — soda
  13. present — there
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. perch — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. field — a subject
  20. row — to paddle
  21. field — for sport
  22. present — the time now
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. mouse — the animal

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