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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 124 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. land — ground
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cap — a lid
  5. face — to confront
  6. cap — a hat
  7. face — to point toward
  8. land — to come down
  9. squash — to crush
  10. face — part of the head
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — a match
  15. prune — to trim
  16. land — a country
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cap — of ice

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