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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. field — for sport
  3. spring — the season
  4. last — finally
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. last — final
  9. can — a tin
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. squash — to crush
  12. last — to go on
  13. can — to be able to
  14. squash — the sport
  15. face — to confront
  16. snap — to click
  17. spring — of water
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. spring — a coil
  20. face — to point toward
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. can — a tin
  24. face — part of the head

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