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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — to visit
  4. stem — to come from
  5. field — a subject
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. rash — a series
  9. field — for sport
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. court — of a king
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. court — of law
  14. field — farmland
  15. saw — the tool
  16. hand — in cards
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pop — soda
  22. hand — help
  23. court — for sport
  24. wind — moving air

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