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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. ball — a dance
  3. squash — the sport
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. tear — from crying
  7. field — a subject
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. stem — to come from
  11. field — farmland
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. field — for sport
  14. scale — size or range
  15. ball — a great time
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. tear — from crying
  23. scale — in music
  24. tear — to rip

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