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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bass — low music
  3. present — there
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — for sport
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. ball — a great time
  11. present — a gift
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. last — to go on
  14. bass — the fish
  15. land — a country
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. land — to come down
  18. squash — the sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. present — the time now
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. last — finally
  23. land — ground
  24. squash — to crush

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