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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. ball — a dance
  3. season — of the year
  4. field — for sport
  5. snap — to click
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. clip — for paper
  8. stock — goods
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. field — farmland
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. clip — to cut
  16. field — a subject
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. ball — a great time
  20. mine — for digging
  21. clip — a video
  22. rush — hurry
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. stock — shares

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