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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: date · calf · tear · chair · squash · press · bulb · field

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  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. bulb — of a plant
  2. field — for sport
  3. squash — the sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. field — farmland
  10. bulb — for light
  11. chair — a leader
  12. press — a publisher
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. press — to push
  18. bulb — for light
  19. tear — to rip
  20. press — newspapers
  21. date — the fruit
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. calf — a young animal
  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