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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. cell — in biology
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bat — the animal
  11. squash — the sport
  12. ground — the earth
  13. race — humankind
  14. ground — a position
  15. chair — a leader
  16. cell — a phone
  17. squash — to crush
  18. bat — for baseball

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