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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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. leaves — of a tree
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. field — a subject
  5. snap — to click
  6. cap — a hat
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. field — farmland
  9. squash — to crush
  10. clip — for paper
  11. key — for a lock
  12. squash — the sport
  13. field — for sport
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — of ice
  18. key — the most important part
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. clip — a video
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. key — in music

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