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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. scale — size or range
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. field — for sport
  6. row — to paddle
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. row — a line
  9. face — to point toward
  10. scale — in music
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. hand — help
  13. stem — to come from
  14. face — to confront
  15. face — part of the head
  16. hand — in cards
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. pound — a weight
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pop — soda
  24. pop — to visit

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