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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 120 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. tube — the underground
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. club — for golf
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — music
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. wake — a trail
  9. stem — to come from
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. club — a group
  12. club — for dancing
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. game — a match
  16. tube — a container
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. pop — to visit
  22. field — a subject
  23. game — wild animals
  24. 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