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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 116 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. field — for sport
  3. ground — a position
  4. cap — of ice
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. court — of a king
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. wax — to grow
  13. pop — to visit
  14. ground — crushed
  15. court — for sport
  16. pop — soda
  17. cap — a lid
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. ground — the earth
  22. court — of law
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cap — a hat

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