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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 116 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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. field — for sport
  3. prune — to trim
  4. hand — help
  5. rest — what's left
  6. field — a subject
  7. bear — the animal
  8. rest — what's left
  9. ground — crushed
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bear — the animal
  12. squash — the sport
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — in cards
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. ground — the earth
  18. rest — a break
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. kick — in football
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. ground — a position
  24. field — farmland

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