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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. spring — the season
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. pop — music
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. ground — the earth
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. pop — to visit
  11. scale — size or range
  12. mark — a trace
  13. shower — rain
  14. ground — crushed
  15. pop — soda
  16. spring — a coil
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. wake — a trail
  20. scale — in music
  21. ground — a position
  22. spring — of water
  23. chair — a leader
  24. mark — a grade

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