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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. field — farmland
  3. face — to confront
  4. ground — crushed
  5. rash — a series
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. face — to point toward
  10. ground — a position
  11. face — part of the head
  12. stand — to bear
  13. field — for sport
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. squash — the sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. rash — hasty
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. squash — to crush
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. ground — the earth
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. spring — of water

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