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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. field — a subject
  3. hand — help
  4. field — for sport
  5. drill — army training
  6. rush — hurry
  7. snap — to click
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. stock — goods
  10. field — farmland
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. drill — a practice
  15. hand — in cards
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. drill — the tool
  20. stock — shares
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. hand — part of the body

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