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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: snap · field · can · cabinet · cold · bat · bowl · stem

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. can — a tin
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bat — the animal
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. cold — not warm
  8. can — to be able to
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cold — an illness
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. can — a tin
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. field — a subject
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. field — for sport
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. snap — to click
  23. field — farmland
  24. stem — to come from

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