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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cue — a hint
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — in music
  5. squash — to crush
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. clip — for paper
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — a practice
  11. cell — a phone
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cell — in biology
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. clip — a video
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. cue — a signal
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. clip — to cut
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. cue — for pool
  24. drill — army training

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