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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 120 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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. lean — to bend
  3. march — the month
  4. file — a document
  5. spring — a coil
  6. march — the month
  7. spring — the season
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. field — for sport
  10. pop — to visit
  11. march — music
  12. field — farmland
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. pop — soda
  15. pop — music
  16. mug — to rob
  17. mug — a cup
  18. lean — thin
  19. squash — the sport
  20. file — a tool
  21. mug — a face
  22. spring — of water
  23. field — a subject
  24. file — a line of people

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