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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. field — for sport
  3. root — of a plant
  4. field — a subject
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. root — the cause
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. can — to be able to
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. root — of a word
  13. field — farmland
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. can — a tin
  16. file — a tool
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. squash — to crush
  19. can — a tin
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. file — a line of people
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. file — a document

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