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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: bay · field · swing · bowl · snap · stick · cold · mouse

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. field — a subject
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — farmland
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. cold — an illness
  22. snap — to click
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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