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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. wind — moving air
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. field — farmland
  5. prune — to trim
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. shower — rain
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. wind — moving air
  12. squash — the sport
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. squash — to crush
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. prune — to trim
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. shower — to wash
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. fork — in a road

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