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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 116 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. spell — letters
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. last — to go on
  6. pitch — completely
  7. field — a subject
  8. last — finally
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. squash — the sport
  13. spell — magic
  14. squash — to crush
  15. field — for sport
  16. spell — a short time
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. field — farmland

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