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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. net — after costs
  5. field — for sport
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. net — in sport
  9. rush — hurry
  10. hand — help
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. hand — in cards
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. field — farmland
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. bulb — for light
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. face — to confront
  20. snap — to click
  21. net — for catching
  22. face — part of the head
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. face — to point toward

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