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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 116 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 drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. perch — the fish
  4. tear — to rip
  5. spell — letters
  6. tear — from crying
  7. band — a ring
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. spell — magic
  12. squash — the sport
  13. track — to keep track
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. tear — from crying
  18. spell — a short time
  19. track — a song
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. track — a path
  23. field — a subject
  24. band — a music group

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