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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 120 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. pitch — completely
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. pop — to visit
  7. spring — the season
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pop — soda
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. spring — a coil
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. fall — the season
  16. snap — to click
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. spring — of water
  19. fall — to drop
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. fall — to drop
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bowl — to roll

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