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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. kid — to tease
  3. capital — a city
  4. prune — to trim
  5. rash — a series
  6. kid — child
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. rock — a stone
  10. squash — the sport
  11. rock — music
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wind — moving air
  14. prune — to trim
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. capital — money
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. sharp — clever
  20. wind — moving air
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. rock — to move gently

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