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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. date — the fruit
  4. field — farmland
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. squash — to crush
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stem — to come from
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. pass — a permit
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. field — a subject
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. wind — moving air
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. field — for sport

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