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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  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. pass — a permit
  3. pop — soda
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. snap — to click
  6. pop — to visit
  7. lie — to recline
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. scale — size or range
  12. pop — music
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. wind — moving air
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. scale — in music
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. kick — in football
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. scale — for weighing
  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