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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 116 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. kid — to tease
  6. degree — an amount
  7. field — for sport
  8. branch — a division
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — child
  11. degree — temperature
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. squash — the sport
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. field — farmland
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. wind — moving air
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. field — a subject

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