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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. squash — the sport
  3. pop — to visit
  4. snap — to click
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. game — a match
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. pop — soda
  11. track — a path
  12. track — a song
  13. game — wild animals
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. content — the amount
  16. track — to keep track
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. squash — to crush
  23. content — happy
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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