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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. snap — to click
  3. field — a subject
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. present — the time now
  6. mate — to breed
  7. field — farmland
  8. kid — child
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. mate — a partner
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. field — for sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. present — there
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. mate — a friend
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. present — a gift
  23. wake — a trail
  24. toast — bread

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