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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.

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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: race · field · ground · cap · fan · leaves · chest · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. field — farmland
  3. field — a subject
  4. ground — crushed
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cap — a lid
  7. race — humankind
  8. ground — a position
  9. race — the arms race
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. field — for sport
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. chest — of your body
  19. race — a contest
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. cap — of ice
  23. ground — the earth
  24. leaves — lets stay

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