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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. rush — hurry
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. squash — to crush
  6. spring — of water
  7. court — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. spring — the season
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. field — for sport
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. game — a match
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — wild animals
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. field — a subject
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. spring — a coil

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