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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. 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. squash — the sport
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. roll — a cake
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — a group
  8. capital — a city
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. squash — to crush
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. capital — money
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. march — music
  17. roll — a list
  18. wind — moving air
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. 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