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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: jam · snap · bat · hand · hide · track · field · stand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. track — a song
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. snap — to click
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. field — for sport
  9. track — to keep track
  10. field — farmland
  11. bat — the animal
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. field — a subject
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. stand — to bear
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. track — a path

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