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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bowl · clip · squash · wake · mark · rash · field · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mark — a trace
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. field — a subject
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. squash — the sport
  8. field — for sport
  9. clip — to cut
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. rash — hasty
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mark — a grade
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. rash — a series
  20. clip — a video
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. field — farmland
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. squash — to crush

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