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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: club · mug · snap · mine · field · straw · stem · kick

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. stem — to come from
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. club — a group
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. field — a subject
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. club — for golf
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. mine — for digging
  14. field — farmland
  15. mug — to rob
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mug — a face
  18. club — for dancing
  19. mug — a cup
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. field — for sport
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. snap — to click
  24. kick — in football

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