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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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. land — to come down
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. squash — to crush
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. field — farmland
  8. fine — high quality
  9. field — for sport
  10. squash — the sport
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. land — a country
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. fine — all right
  15. last — final
  16. last — finally
  17. bound — tied together
  18. field — a subject
  19. land — ground
  20. bound — certain
  21. last — to go on
  22. snap — to click
  23. bound — obliged
  24. hide — animal skin

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