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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  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. cabinet — ministers
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. bank — of a river
  4. file — a document
  5. field — farmland
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. squash — the sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. file — a tool
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. file — a line of people
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. spring — the season
  15. field — a subject
  16. bank — for money
  17. squash — to crush
  18. prune — to trim
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. bank — for money
  21. foot — a measure
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. foot — part of the body
  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