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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. bound — certain
  4. tube — a container
  5. field — farmland
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. squash — to crush
  8. land — ground
  9. present — a gift
  10. field — a subject
  11. land — a country
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bound — obliged
  14. staff — employees
  15. squash — the sport
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. staff — employees
  18. tube — the underground
  19. present — there
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. present — the time now
  23. bound — tied together
  24. land — to come down

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