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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. field — a subject
  4. mark — a trace
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. squash — the sport
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. field — farmland
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. mark — a grade
  14. rash — hasty
  15. game — wild animals
  16. squash — to crush
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. rash — a series
  19. field — for sport
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. game — a match
  23. rush — hurry
  24. calf — a young animal

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