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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. pound — a weight
  3. field — farmland
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pop — music
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cell — in biology
  9. field — a subject
  10. cell — a phone
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bass — the fish
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. mark — a trace
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — to visit
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. clip — a video
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bass — low music
  24. field — for sport

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