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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. ground — a position
  4. squash — the sport
  5. ground — the earth
  6. current — electric
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. squash — to crush
  9. foot — a measure
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. land — a country
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. field — for sport
  17. land — ground
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. kid — to tease
  20. current — happening now
  21. ground — crushed
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. current — of water
  24. kid — child

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