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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. pop — to visit
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. rock — a stone
  7. rock — music
  8. pop — soda
  9. band — a ring
  10. shower — rain
  11. can — to be able to
  12. shower — to wash
  13. field — for sport
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. clip — a video
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. can — a tin
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pop — music
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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