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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: field · wave · game · deal · kid · roll · snap · spell

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. spell — letters
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. roll — a cake
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. spell — a short time
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. snap — to click
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. roll — a list
  18. field — farmland
  19. spell — magic
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. deal — to handle
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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