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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. cap — of ice
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. file — a document
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. shower — rain
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. cap — a hat
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. cap — a lid
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. net — after costs
  14. field — for sport
  15. shower — to wash
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. snap — to click
  19. file — a tool
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. file — a line of people
  23. wake — a trail
  24. net — in sport

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