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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. field — farmland
  3. bulb — for light
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. spell — a short time
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. field — a subject
  9. spell — magic
  10. scale — in music
  11. band — a music group
  12. clip — for paper
  13. band — a ring
  14. field — for sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. cue — a signal
  17. clip — a video
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cue — for pool
  20. scale — size or range
  21. spell — letters
  22. squash — the sport
  23. clip — to cut
  24. band — a rubber band

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