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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: kid · field · face · wake · root · snap · spell · deal

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. snap — to click
  3. spell — magic
  4. root — of a plant
  5. kid — to tease
  6. field — farmland
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. deal — to handle
  9. face — to point toward
  10. field — for sport
  11. wake — a trail
  12. face — part of the head
  13. spell — letters
  14. root — of a word
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. root — the cause
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. face — to confront
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spell — a short time
  24. field — a subject

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