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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. game — a match
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. wind — moving air
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bat — the animal
  11. row — a line
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. stand — to bear
  14. ball — a great time
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wind — moving air
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. row — to paddle
  21. ball — a dance
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bat — for baseball

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