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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ground · wound · field · tube · snap · lie

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — the earth
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. field — a subject
  5. lie — to recline
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. wound — an injury
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. tube — the underground
  13. wound — an injury
  14. snap — to click
  15. ground — a position
  16. field — farmland
  17. tube — a container
  18. field — for sport

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