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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. root — the cause
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. root — of a word
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. root — of a plant
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. squash — the sport
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. squash — to crush
  16. net — after costs
  17. bat — the animal
  18. net — for catching
  19. pit — in a race
  20. net — in sport
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cap — of ice
  24. kid — to tease

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