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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. field — farmland
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. scale — in music
  6. deal — to handle
  7. field — a subject
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. date — the fruit
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. scale — size or range
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. cold — an illness
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. field — for sport
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cold — not warm
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. pop — music
  24. pop — soda

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