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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. roll — a cake
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. pop — music
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. field — a subject
  10. file — a document
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. pop — soda
  13. field — for sport
  14. wake — a trail
  15. roll — a list
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. file — a tool
  18. field — farmland
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. file — a line of people

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