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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: plane · content · key · bank · date · snap · field · clip

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. field — for sport
  3. content — happy
  4. bank — of a river
  5. clip — for paper
  6. field — a subject
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. clip — a video
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. snap — to click
  11. clip — to cut
  12. plane — a tool
  13. key — the most important part
  14. date — the fruit
  15. bank — for money
  16. field — farmland
  17. key — in music
  18. key — for a lock
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. content — the amount
  24. bank — for money

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