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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: kick · snap · staff · field · hide · bark · content · cue

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. staff — employees
  3. cue — a hint
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. field — a subject
  8. staff — a stick
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. cue — for pool
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. staff — employees
  16. bark — to shout
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. field — farmland
  20. content — the amount
  21. cue — a signal
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. content — happy
  24. field — for sport

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