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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. present — there
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. object — to protest
  11. wax — to grow
  12. object — an aim
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. field — a subject
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — of the year
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. squash — to crush
  22. present — the time now
  23. object — a thing
  24. present — a gift

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