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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: key · field · arm · present · net · cap · wound · snap

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. key — for a lock
  3. snap — to click
  4. wound — an injury
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. present — there
  9. net — after costs
  10. key — the most important part
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. wound — an injury
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. cap — a hat
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. field — a subject
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cap — of ice
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. cap — a lid
  23. key — in music
  24. present — the time now

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