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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. snap — to click
  3. field — for sport
  4. root — of a plant
  5. bank — for money
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. root — of a word
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. bank — of a river
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. saw — the tool
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. wake — a trail
  15. pitch — completely
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. field — a subject
  19. bank — for money
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. field — farmland
  24. root — the cause

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