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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wind — moving air
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. prune — to trim
  13. tube — a container
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. tube — the underground
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. prune — to trim
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. squash — the sport
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. wind — to turn a key

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