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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. spell — magic
  3. object — to protest
  4. snap — to click
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. object — a thing
  8. net — after costs
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. wound — an injury
  11. net — for catching
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. spell — a short time
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. field — for sport
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. field — farmland
  20. object — an aim
  21. field — a subject
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spell — letters

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