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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.

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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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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — an amount
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. shower — rain
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. fork — in a road
  15. degree — temperature
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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