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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: field · snap · arm · bat · rule · craft · ground · hide

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. field — farmland
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. craft — boats
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rule — government
  10. ground — a position
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. craft — a skill
  13. field — a subject
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. ground — crushed
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bat — the animal
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. snap — to click
  22. field — for sport
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. bat — for baseball

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