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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · spell · pop · field · spring · perch · straw · date

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — a coil
  5. perch — the fish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. club — for golf
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. field — farmland
  10. spell — letters
  11. club — a group
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. pop — soda
  14. date — the fruit
  15. field — for sport
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. field — a subject
  18. club — for dancing
  19. pop — to visit
  20. spring — of water
  21. spell — magic
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. straw — a straw man

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