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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: pop · scale · date · club · field · bass · row · wound

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. row — to paddle
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. wound — an injury
  7. scale — in music
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. wound — an injury
  12. row — a line
  13. scale — size or range
  14. club — for golf
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pop — soda
  17. bass — low music
  18. field — a subject
  19. bass — the fish
  20. club — a group
  21. pop — music
  22. date — the fruit
  23. club — for dancing
  24. pop — to visit

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