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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 120 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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. squash — to crush
  8. degree — temperature
  9. squash — the sport
  10. perch — the fish
  11. hand — in cards
  12. scale — size or range
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. scale — in music
  16. court — of a king
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pitch — completely
  19. hand — help
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. ruler — for measuring

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