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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: ground · bass · tear · snap · field · bat · wake · trunk

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. ground — the earth
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. ground — a position
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. field — for sport
  12. ground — crushed
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. wake — a trail
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. bass — low music
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. snap — to click

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