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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. saw — the tool
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. club — for dancing
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. saw — the tool
  8. club — a group
  9. spring — a coil
  10. track — a song
  11. spring — the season
  12. content — happy
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. squash — to crush
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. toast — bread
  17. wound — an injury
  18. club — for golf
  19. spring — of water
  20. track — a path
  21. wound — an injury
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. track — to keep track
  24. content — the amount

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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