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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. clip — for paper
  3. degree — an amount
  4. face — part of the head
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pop — music
  8. clip — a video
  9. squash — to crush
  10. spring — of water
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pop — to visit
  15. squash — the sport
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. face — to confront
  18. pop — soda
  19. degree — from a university
  20. game — wild animals
  21. pound — a weight
  22. face — to point toward
  23. clip — to cut
  24. game — a match

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