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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. root — of a word
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. spell — magic
  5. spell — letters
  6. lie — to recline
  7. fine — all right
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. snap — to click
  11. bass — low music
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. fine — high quality
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. root — of a plant
  16. wound — an injury
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — a subject
  20. wound — an injury
  21. spell — a short time
  22. root — the cause
  23. field — for sport
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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