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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: pound · fall · field · bat · plane · cap · clip · snap

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. field — farmland
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. fall — the season
  7. bat — the animal
  8. fall — to drop
  9. clip — to cut
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. plane — a tool
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pound — a weight
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cap — a hat
  21. clip — a video
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. snap — to click

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