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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. pop — soda
  3. cell — a phone
  4. present — the time now
  5. ball — a great time
  6. spell — letters
  7. swing — music
  8. spell — a short time
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. track — to keep track
  12. swing — to play on
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. spell — magic
  16. swing — in golf
  17. track — a song
  18. pop — to visit
  19. mine — for digging
  20. track — a path
  21. present — there
  22. cell — in biology
  23. present — a gift
  24. mine — an explosive

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