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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. ground — a position
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. court — of a king
  7. ground — the earth
  8. field — a subject
  9. court — for sport
  10. bound — obliged
  11. land — to come down
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. bound — tied together
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. ground — crushed
  18. bound — certain
  19. court — of law
  20. land — a country
  21. field — for sport
  22. land — ground
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. field — farmland

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