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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. chest — of your body
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. field — farmland
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. chest — a box
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. field — a subject
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. field — for sport
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. bulb — for light
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bat — the animal
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. trunk — of a car

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