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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. squash — the sport
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. drill — army training
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. drill — the tool
  8. field — farmland
  9. drill — a practice
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. dip — to sink
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. field — a subject
  14. saw — the tool
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. fork — in a road
  18. saw — the tool
  19. root — of a plant
  20. root — the cause
  21. squash — to crush
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. root — of a word
  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