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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. field — for sport
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. game — a match
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. pound — a weight
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. field — farmland
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. field — a subject
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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