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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. root — of a word
  3. bat — the animal
  4. perch — the fish
  5. squash — to crush
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. squash — the sport
  12. root — of a plant
  13. content — happy
  14. root — the cause
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. content — the amount
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pass — a permit
  19. field — a subject
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. field — for sport
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. field — farmland

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