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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's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cold — not warm
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. squash — the sport
  5. club — for golf
  6. suit — to fit
  7. rash — a series
  8. spell — letters
  9. rash — hasty
  10. field — farmland
  11. present — there
  12. suit — clothes
  13. field — for sport
  14. suit — in cards
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. present — the time now
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. squash — to crush
  19. cold — an illness
  20. spell — a short time
  21. club — for dancing
  22. present — a gift
  23. club — a group
  24. spell — magic

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