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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. row — a line
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. wake — a trail
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. field — farmland
  7. march — the month
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. row — to paddle
  11. spring — the season
  12. snap — to click
  13. press — to push
  14. march — music
  15. press — a publisher
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. spring — a coil
  18. press — newspapers
  19. spring — of water
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. field — a subject
  23. march — the month
  24. field — for sport

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