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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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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: nail · field · snap · foot · sharp · mine · kid · fork

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. field — for sport
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. snap — to click
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. field — a subject
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. mine — for digging
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. sharp — clever
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — child
  20. fork — in a road
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. foot — a measure
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. foot — the bottom

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