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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 captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  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. board — to get on
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. clip — for paper
  4. field — farmland
  5. game — wild animals
  6. clip — a video
  7. spell — a short time
  8. foot — a measure
  9. present — there
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. spell — letters
  12. squash — to crush
  13. clip — to cut
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. present — the time now
  16. field — a subject
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. squash — the sport
  19. present — a gift
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. spell — magic
  22. board — a committee
  23. game — a match
  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