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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: stick · snap · degree · fan · pop · row · lie · field

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. degree — temperature
  3. pop — soda
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. row — a line
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. field — a subject
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. row — to paddle
  14. pop — music
  15. snap — to click
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. degree — from a university
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. field — for sport
  21. lie — to recline
  22. field — farmland
  23. pop — to visit
  24. lie — an untruth

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