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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: stem · trunk · rash · perch · field · swing · pop · sharp

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pop — music
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. swing — to play on
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — soda
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. field — farmland
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. rash — a series
  13. swing — in golf
  14. sharp — clever
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. field — a subject
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. swing — music
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. rash — hasty
  22. stem — to come from
  23. perch — the fish
  24. stem — of a plant

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