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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — music
  4. field — a subject
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. field — farmland
  8. present — a gift
  9. hand — help
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. tear — from crying
  12. hand — in cards
  13. present — the time now
  14. field — for sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. net — after costs
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. wake — a trail
  20. tear — to rip
  21. net — for catching
  22. pop — to visit
  23. present — there
  24. wake — before a funeral

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