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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. squash — to crush
  3. wind — moving air
  4. field — for sport
  5. squash — the sport
  6. wind — moving air
  7. field — a subject
  8. firm — steady
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. root — of a word
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. field — farmland
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. firm — a company
  15. root — of a plant
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. club — for golf
  19. club — a group
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. root — the cause
  22. club — for dancing
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. ruler — for measuring

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