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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. snap — to click
  6. land — a country
  7. land — ground
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. chair — a leader
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. land — to come down
  14. pop — soda
  15. pop — to visit
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. content — happy
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. content — the amount

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