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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: mine · cue · bass · wake · snap · pit · field · wound

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. wound — an injury
  3. field — for sport
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cue — a hint
  8. pit — a hole
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bass — the fish
  11. cue — a signal
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. field — a subject
  14. snap — to click
  15. cue — for pool
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. pit — in a race
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. wake — a trail
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. mine — for digging
  24. field — farmland

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