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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — to crush
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. chair — a leader
  5. fall — the season
  6. rash — a series
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. perch — the fish
  10. squash — the sport
  11. fall — to drop
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. rash — hasty
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fall — to drop
  18. degree — an amount

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