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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. pop — music
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. dip — to sink
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. mine — for digging
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — for sport
  10. wind — moving air
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. stock — goods
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. stock — shares
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. pop — soda
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. wind — moving air
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. field — a subject
  24. patient — a sick person

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