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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bank — for money
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. field — for sport
  5. pound — a weight
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. band — a music group
  8. field — farmland
  9. file — a tool
  10. squash — the sport
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bank — for money
  13. file — a line of people
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. squash — to crush
  18. prune — to trim
  19. file — a document
  20. field — a subject
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bank — of a river
  24. pound — to hit hard

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