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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: wound · bowl · spring · squash · field · cue · game · season

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. spring — of water
  9. squash — the sport
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. spring — the season
  13. cue — a hint
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. season — in sport
  16. game — a match
  17. cue — a signal
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — a subject
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cue — for pool
  22. game — wild animals
  23. field — for sport
  24. season — of the year

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