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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ground · squash · field · pitch · fan · key · bark · rule

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — the sport
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. pitch — completely
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. rule — a law
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. rule — government
  10. key — for a lock
  11. bark — to shout
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. key — in music
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — crushed
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. field — a subject
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. squash — to crush
  22. field — for sport
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. key — the most important part

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