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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. perch — the fish
  4. chair — a leader
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. plane — a tool
  7. squash — the sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. wax — to grow
  14. squash — to crush
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — clever
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — in music
  24. prune — the fruit

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