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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: snap · clip · toast · court · bat · arm · field · club

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  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. toast — a drink to someone
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. field — farmland
  4. bat — the animal
  5. clip — to cut
  6. field — a subject
  7. clip — a video
  8. court — for sport
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. club — for golf
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. court — of a king
  13. clip — for paper
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. toast — bread
  16. field — for sport
  17. club — a group
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. court — of law
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. club — for dancing
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. arm — part of the body
  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