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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: club · field · bat · staff · spell · snap · track · cold

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. spell — magic
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. track — to keep track
  5. club — for golf
  6. spell — a short time
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. field — a subject
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to click
  12. track — a song
  13. staff — a stick
  14. field — farmland
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. track — a path
  17. staff — employees
  18. club — for dancing
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bat — the animal
  21. staff — employees
  22. club — a group
  23. cold — not warm
  24. spell — letters

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