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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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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: chest · fine · snap · spring · field · leaves · roll · fall

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. roll — a list
  3. field — farmland
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. field — for sport
  7. fall — the season
  8. spring — the season
  9. field — a subject
  10. snap — to click
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. roll — a cake
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. fall — to drop
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. fall — to drop
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. spring — a coil
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. spring — of water
  22. chest — a box
  23. fine — all right
  24. fine — a penalty

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