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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. field — for sport
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. capital — money
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a leader
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. field — farmland
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. snap — to click
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. bass — the fish
  15. field — a subject
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bass — low music
  21. squash — to crush
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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