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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. roll — a list
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cap — a hat
  6. drill — the tool
  7. roll — a cake
  8. squash — to crush
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. spring — the season
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. cap — of ice
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. mate — to breed
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. cap — a lid
  19. spring — a coil
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — army training
  22. mate — a partner
  23. spring — of water
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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