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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: cap · field · pitcher · cold · wound · date · key · squash

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. squash — the vegetable
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. field — a subject
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. field — farmland
  7. key — for a lock
  8. key — the most important part
  9. squash — the sport
  10. cold — not warm
  11. field — for sport
  12. date — the fruit
  13. key — in music
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — a hat
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. wound — an injury
  20. cap — of ice
  21. cold — an illness
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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