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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. toast — bread
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — for sport
  7. craft — a skill
  8. court — of law
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. court — of a king
  12. court — for sport
  13. shower — rain
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. tube — the underground
  16. craft — boats
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — to crush
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. leaves — of a tree

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