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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. field — for sport
  3. land — a country
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. field — a subject
  6. net — in sport
  7. cell — a phone
  8. pop — to visit
  9. land — to come down
  10. net — after costs
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. land — ground
  15. fork — in a road
  16. pop — soda
  17. net — for catching
  18. field — farmland

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