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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. key — for a lock
  3. field — farmland
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. bass — low music
  6. face — to point toward
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. key — the most important part
  13. wound — an injury
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. snap — to click
  16. wound — an injury
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. key — in music
  20. face — to confront
  21. field — a subject
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. face — part of the head
  24. bass — the fish

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