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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. scale — size or range
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. bound — obliged
  7. drill — army training
  8. bat — the animal
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bound — tied together
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. field — for sport
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. drill — the tool
  17. bound — certain
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. kid — child
  21. squash — to crush
  22. scale — in music
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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