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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: snap · kick · squash · rush · field · face · rash · tear

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. face — part of the head
  3. kick — in football
  4. snap — to click
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. field — for sport
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. squash — the sport
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. field — farmland
  12. rash — a series
  13. face — to confront
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. tear — from crying
  19. squash — to crush
  20. face — to point toward
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. field — a subject
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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