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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. perch — the fish
  3. pop — music
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. cap — a hat
  6. plane — a tool
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. file — a tool
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. field — a subject
  13. file — a document
  14. pop — to visit
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. cap — a lid
  18. field — for sport
  19. pop — soda
  20. march — the month
  21. file — a line of people
  22. march — music
  23. cap — of ice
  24. march — the month

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