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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: field · squash · degree · wind · coach · foot · prune · tube

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. field — a subject
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. field — for sport
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. foot — a measure
  7. squash — the sport
  8. tube — a container
  9. prune — to trim
  10. tube — the underground
  11. squash — to crush
  12. wind — moving air
  13. degree — temperature
  14. field — farmland
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. prune — to trim
  21. degree — from a university
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. wind — moving air

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