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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. pop — music
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. club — for dancing
  5. field — a subject
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. content — the amount
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pop — soda
  11. kid — to tease
  12. degree — an amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. kid — child
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. pass — a permit
  17. degree — from a university
  18. club — for golf
  19. content — happy
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. club — a group
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — farmland
  24. mine — for digging

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