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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. squash — the sport
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — a subject
  6. spring — a coil
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — the season
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. season — of the year
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. field — for sport
  16. kid — child
  17. bound — certain
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — tied together
  22. pound — a weight
  23. squash — to crush
  24. season — in 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