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

Word bank: wake · field · season · hand · kick · present · snap · tear

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. tear — to rip
  4. kick — in football
  5. tear — from crying
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. present — a gift
  8. field — farmland
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. hand — in cards
  11. snap — to click
  12. hand — help
  13. present — there
  14. tear — from crying
  15. season — in sport
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. season — of the year
  21. present — the time now
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. kick — a thrill

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