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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: pitcher · degree · snap · clip · mark · field · stick · wake

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. mark — a trace
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. wake — a trail
  7. clip — to cut
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. degree — an amount
  11. clip — for paper
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. field — for sport
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. mark — a grade
  17. degree — temperature
  18. field — farmland
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. degree — from a university
  21. snap — to click
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. field — a subject
  24. clip — a video

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