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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. land — to come down
  5. court — of a king
  6. cell — a phone
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. cell — in biology
  10. land — a country
  11. court — of law
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. court — for sport
  14. squash — to crush
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. land — ground
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — on a finger

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