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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: bulb · stick · snap · shower · field · net · bat · cold

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  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. bat — in an idiom
  2. field — farmland
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. shower — rain
  6. snap — to click
  7. field — a subject
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — after costs
  12. bat — the animal
  13. net — for catching
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bulb — for light
  16. field — for sport
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  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