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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — to crush
  5. present — a gift
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. hand — in cards
  10. present — the time now
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. hand — help
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. prune — to trim
  17. mine — for digging
  18. field — a subject
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. present — there
  21. field — farmland
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. mine — an explosive
  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