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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 116 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 opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. land — ground
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. scale — in music
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. land — to come down
  7. can — to be able to
  8. row — to paddle
  9. land — a country
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — the tool
  16. scale — size or range
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. field — a subject
  19. sharp — clever
  20. snap — to click
  21. row — a line
  22. drill — a practice
  23. can — a tin
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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