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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. snap — to click
  3. field — a subject
  4. bat — the animal
  5. prune — to trim
  6. spell — letters
  7. pass — a permit
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. prune — to trim
  11. field — for sport
  12. wax — to grow
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. field — farmland
  15. spell — magic
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. spell — a short time
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. prune — the fruit

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