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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 120 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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. object — to protest
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. field — a subject
  5. chest — of your body
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. field — farmland
  8. object — an aim
  9. field — for sport
  10. row — a line
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. net — after costs
  15. fine — high quality
  16. fine — all right
  17. chest — of your body
  18. object — a thing
  19. net — for catching
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. chest — a box
  22. snap — to click
  23. net — in sport
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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