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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 116 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. board — a committee
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. field — a subject
  6. perch — the fish
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. bulb — for light
  13. board — to get on
  14. ground — a position
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. cold — an illness
  19. field — farmland
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. cold — not warm
  22. field — for sport
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. bulb — for light

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