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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. field — a subject
  3. capital — money
  4. cue — a signal
  5. rest — what's left
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bass — low music
  9. game — a match
  10. cue — a hint
  11. capital — a city
  12. rest — what's left
  13. squash — the sport
  14. rest — a break
  15. field — farmland
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. field — for sport
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cue — for pool
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bass — the fish
  24. game — wild animals

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