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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cell — a phone
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cold — not warm
  12. deal — to handle
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cell — in biology
  18. deal — a big deal

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