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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. last — finally
  3. squash — to crush
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. last — final
  7. field — farmland
  8. stand — to bear
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. spring — a coil
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. spring — the season
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. deal — to handle
  19. spring — of water
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. field — for sport
  22. squash — the sport
  23. last — to go on
  24. deal — an agreement

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