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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — to crush
  3. field — for sport
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. squash — the sport
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cap — a hat
  12. field — farmland
  13. tear — from crying
  14. field — a subject
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — to play on
  17. cap — of ice
  18. fall — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. swing — music
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cap — a lid
  23. fall — to drop
  24. date — the fruit

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