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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. spring — the season
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. race — a contest
  6. field — a subject
  7. squash — to crush
  8. rest — a break
  9. foot — a measure
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. spring — of water
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. scale — size or range
  14. field — for sport
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. rest — what's left
  17. race — humankind
  18. rest — what's left
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. scale — in music
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — a weight
  24. race — the arms race

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