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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. press — a publisher
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. march — the month
  10. squash — to crush
  11. press — to push
  12. press — newspapers
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. squash — the sport
  15. stem — to come from
  16. march — music
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. march — the month

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