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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 124 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 water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. can — a tin
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. degree — an amount
  8. rash — a series
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. rash — hasty
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. roll — a cake
  14. pop — soda
  15. degree — temperature
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. roll — a list
  18. degree — from a university
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — to be able to
  24. roll — on a 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