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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. fall — to drop
  4. content — the amount
  5. pop — to visit
  6. rock — a stone
  7. fall — to drop
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. rock — music
  11. field — for sport
  12. fall — the season
  13. field — a subject
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — in golf
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — a city
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. capital — money
  21. content — happy
  22. pop — soda
  23. field — farmland
  24. swing — music

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