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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. pop — music
  3. snap — to click
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. field — for sport
  7. pop — soda
  8. last — finally
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. fine — high quality
  15. last — final
  16. rock — a stone
  17. field — a subject
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. field — farmland
  21. pop — to visit
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. rock — music
  24. last — to go on

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