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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. field — farmland
  3. row — to paddle
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. press — to push
  7. cap — of ice
  8. pop — to visit
  9. game — a match
  10. pop — music
  11. cap — a hat
  12. field — for sport
  13. row — a line
  14. cap — a lid
  15. spell — a short time
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. spell — magic
  18. field — a subject
  19. press — a publisher
  20. spell — letters
  21. press — newspapers
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. game — wild animals
  24. pop — soda

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