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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. pop — to visit
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. bass — the fish
  6. pop — music
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. field — for sport
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. field — a subject
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. wake — a trail
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. bass — low music
  22. drill — army training
  23. pop — soda
  24. bay — a horse colour

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