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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: squash · pound · field · mate · shower · file · root · hand

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. file — a tool
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. mate — to breed
  7. squash — the sport
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. squash — to crush
  10. root — of a plant
  11. file — a document
  12. hand — in cards
  13. file — a line of people
  14. shower — rain
  15. root — the cause
  16. field — a subject
  17. hand — help
  18. mate — a partner
  19. root — of a word
  20. mate — a friend
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pound — a weight
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. pound — to hit hard

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