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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. field — for sport
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. drill — army training
  6. content — the amount
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — to crush
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. cap — a hat
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. content — happy
  15. cap — of ice
  16. hand — help
  17. prune — to trim
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. prune — to trim
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. hand — in cards
  23. field — a subject
  24. cap — a lid

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