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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. vault — a safe
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. cold — an illness
  5. prune — to trim
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stock — goods
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. wound — an injury
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. field — a subject
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. field — farmland
  15. stock — shares
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — for sport
  20. prune — to trim
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pop — to visit
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pop — soda

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