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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 116 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bass — low music
  3. last — to go on
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. root — the cause
  6. squash — to crush
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. hand — in cards
  9. root — of a plant
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. bass — the fish
  12. row — a line
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. cold — an illness
  15. row — to paddle
  16. cold — not warm
  17. last — final
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. hand — help
  20. last — finally
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. root — of a word

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