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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. game — a match
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. game — wild animals
  7. snap — to click
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. swing — music
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. fork — in a road
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — to play on
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wind — moving air

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