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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. pop — music
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. cold — an illness
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. prune — to trim
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. deal — to handle
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. cold — not warm
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. band — a music group
  21. chair — a leader
  22. pop — soda
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. band — a ring

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