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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. spell — magic
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. field — farmland
  5. spell — letters
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. cold — an illness
  8. content — happy
  9. rush — hurry
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pop — soda
  12. content — the amount
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pass — a permit
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. field — for sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. field — a subject
  20. pound — a weight
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. spell — a short time
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. content — videos and posts

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