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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: wake · field · snap · wound · bat · stick · perch · vault

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  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. wake — before a funeral
  2. snap — to click
  3. bat — the animal
  4. field — farmland
  5. wound — an injury
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. vault — a safe
  8. wound — an injury
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. perch — the fish
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. field — a subject
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  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