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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. can — a tin
  4. ground — a position
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. can — a tin
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pop — to visit
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. stem — to come from
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. ground — the earth
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wake — a trail
  16. can — to be able to
  17. hand — in cards
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. hand — help
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. ground — crushed
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. perch — the fish
  24. pop — music

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