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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 116 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: pit · field · face · snap · bay · wake · mine · squash

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. field — a subject
  3. face — to confront
  4. squash — to crush
  5. squash — the sport
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. mine — for digging
  9. field — farmland
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. face — to point toward
  12. field — for sport
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. snap — to click
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. face — part of the head

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