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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: field · snap · date · wake · rule · content · drill · leaves

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. snap — to click
  5. content — happy
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. drill — a practice
  8. drill — the tool
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. rule — a law
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. drill — army training
  14. rule — government
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. date — the fruit
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. content — the amount
  21. wake — a trail
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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