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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. hand — help
  3. bank — for money
  4. spring — the season
  5. tube — a container
  6. spring — of water
  7. last — final
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bank — for money
  11. squash — to crush
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bank — of a river
  14. last — to go on
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. spring — a coil
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. last — finally
  21. squash — the sport
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. date — the fruit

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