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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. kid — to tease
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. field — farmland
  5. root — of a word
  6. roll — a cake
  7. roll — a list
  8. court — of law
  9. bulb — for light
  10. kid — child
  11. court — of a king
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. cap — a hat
  16. snap — to click
  17. field — for sport
  18. root — the cause
  19. root — of a plant
  20. court — for sport
  21. cap — a lid
  22. field — a subject
  23. cap — of ice
  24. roll — on a roll

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