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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: last · ground · cold · field · squash · nail · snap · safe

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. ground — the earth
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — crushed
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. last — to go on
  12. field — for sport
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ground — a position
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. field — a subject
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. field — farmland
  23. snap — to click
  24. nail — on a finger

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