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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 120 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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. field — a subject
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. mine — for digging
  6. field — for sport
  7. spring — of water
  8. squash — the sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. spring — a coil
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cue — a signal
  15. perch — the fish
  16. squash — to crush
  17. field — farmland
  18. mine — belonging to me

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