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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. perch — the fish
  3. pop — soda
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. pop — to visit
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. snap — to click
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cap — of ice
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. date — the fruit
  15. track — to keep track
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. cap — a lid
  18. roll — a cake
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. spell — magic
  21. roll — a list
  22. track — a path
  23. cap — a hat
  24. pop — music

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