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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. pop — music
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. bat — the animal
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. content — happy
  12. dip — to sink
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. field — farmland
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. pop — soda
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. perch — the fish
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. content — the amount
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. racket — for tennis

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