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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'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cue — a hint
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. kid — to tease
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. swing — in golf
  7. kid — child
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. squash — to crush
  12. swing — to play on
  13. present — a gift
  14. foot — a measure
  15. rash — hasty
  16. cue — a signal
  17. stem — to come from
  18. present — the time now
  19. swing — music
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. present — there
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — a series
  24. cue — for pool

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