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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rock — music
  3. roll — a list
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. field — for sport
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rash — a series
  8. field — a subject
  9. roll — a cake
  10. spring — a coil
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. pop — soda
  15. spring — of water
  16. field — farmland
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. spring — the season
  20. pop — to visit
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. pop — music
  24. rock — a stone

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