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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. squash — to crush
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. prune — to trim
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. field — for sport
  13. prune — to trim
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. rock — a stone
  17. capital — money
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. saw — the tool
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rock — music
  22. squash — the sport
  23. field — farmland
  24. capital — a city

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