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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 120 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. field — for sport
  4. shower — rain
  5. charge — a price
  6. field — farmland
  7. shower — to wash
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. snap — to click
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. charge — electricity
  14. tube — a container
  15. charge — in control
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bat — the animal
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. tube — the underground
  22. field — a subject
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in biology

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