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

Word bank: row · race · pop · field · bark · snap · foot · rock

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. snap — to speak sharply
  2. pop — soda
  3. field — a subject
  4. row — a line
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. rock — a stone
  9. race — a contest
  10. snap — to click
  11. field — farmland
  12. race — humankind
  13. foot — a measure
  14. pop — to visit
  15. field — for sport
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. row — to paddle
  20. race — the arms race
  21. rock — music
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bark — to shout
  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