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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. drill — a practice
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. staff — employees
  5. bound — obliged
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — for sport
  10. drill — army training
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. field — a subject
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. bound — tied together
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pit — in a race
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pit — a hole
  20. degree — from a university
  21. staff — employees
  22. bound — certain
  23. drill — the tool
  24. staff — a stick

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