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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. bank — for money
  3. ball — a dance
  4. spell — letters
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. ball — a great time
  8. bank — of a river
  9. root — of a word
  10. root — of a plant
  11. ground — the earth
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — a position
  16. bank — for money
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. field — a subject
  19. cold — not warm
  20. squash — the sport
  21. root — the cause
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — magic
  24. cold — an illness

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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