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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 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. pop — soda
  3. content — happy
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. present — there
  7. pop — to visit
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. file — a tool
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — the time now
  13. file — a line of people
  14. stem — to come from
  15. content — the amount
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. file — a document
  18. mine — for digging

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