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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. band — a ring
  3. field — farmland
  4. rush — hurry
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. craft — a skill
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. craft — boats
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. land — a country
  12. row — to paddle
  13. band — a music group
  14. squash — to crush
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. pass — a permit
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. squash — the sport
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — ground

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