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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 120 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  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. cell — a phone
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. field — for sport
  5. club — for golf
  6. rash — hasty
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bound — obliged
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. club — a group
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cell — in biology
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. rash — a series
  16. club — for dancing
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bound — certain
  20. field — a subject
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. bound — tied together
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  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