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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wind — moving air
  3. squash — the sport
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. charge — a price
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. field — a subject
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hand — in cards
  11. prune — to trim
  12. race — the arms race
  13. field — for sport
  14. charge — electricity
  15. charge — in control
  16. track — a path
  17. race — a contest
  18. track — a song
  19. prune — to trim
  20. race — humankind
  21. track — to keep track
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. wind — moving air

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