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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — part of the head
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. face — to confront
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. bear — the animal

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