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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. ground — the earth
  3. cell — in biology
  4. field — farmland
  5. current — electric
  6. cell — a phone
  7. field — for sport
  8. ground — crushed
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. ground — a position
  11. perch — the fish
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. field — a subject
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. ball — a dance
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. current — of water
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. current — happening now
  24. ball — a great time

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