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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 116 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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — the sport
  3. spring — the season
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. spring — of water
  6. field — a subject
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. spell — a short time
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. stock — shares
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. spell — letters
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. stock — goods
  17. spring — a coil
  18. hand — in cards
  19. squash — to crush
  20. field — farmland
  21. hand — help
  22. spell — magic
  23. hand — part of the body
  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