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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. field — for sport
  5. wake — a trail
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. field — farmland
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. court — of law
  10. pound — a weight
  11. toast — bread
  12. file — a tool
  13. squash — the sport
  14. file — a document
  15. field — a subject
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. court — for sport
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. mine — for digging
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. court — of a king
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. file — a line of people

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