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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — army training
  5. last — final
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — soda
  8. spring — the season
  9. drill — a practice
  10. field — farmland
  11. current — of water
  12. bound — obliged
  13. squash — the sport
  14. spring — a coil
  15. current — electric
  16. last — to go on
  17. field — for sport
  18. last — finally
  19. spring — of water
  20. bound — certain
  21. squash — to crush
  22. field — a subject
  23. current — happening now
  24. bound — tied together

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