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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. kid — to tease
  3. track — a path
  4. drill — the tool
  5. track — to keep track
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. drill — a practice
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. perch — the fish
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. kid — child
  16. drill — army training
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. net — for catching
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. track — a song
  24. snap — to click

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