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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: staff · snap · bark · kid · cue · field · wake · suit

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. suit — clothes
  3. suit — in cards
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. kid — child
  6. suit — to fit
  7. cue — a hint
  8. cue — a signal
  9. field — for sport
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. cue — for pool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. field — farmland
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. field — a subject
  23. staff — employees
  24. staff — employees

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