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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 will it ________________ you to start?
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. suit — clothes
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. field — farmland
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — for paper
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. suit — in cards
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. pitch — completely
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. bore — to tire
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. wound — an injury
  17. snap — to click
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — a match
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bore — to drill

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