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

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. squash — the sport
  5. prune — to trim
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. squash — to crush
  9. net — for catching
  10. deal — to handle
  11. prune — to trim
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. net — in sport
  18. bass — low music
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. net — after costs
  21. field — a subject
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. bass — the fish
  24. kick — in football

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