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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. row — a line
  3. rule — government
  4. foot — a measure
  5. perch — the fish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. field — for sport
  11. roll — a list
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a tool
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. roll — a cake
  18. rule — a law
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. row — to paddle
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. rule — to rule out

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