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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — the sport
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. squash — to crush
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. club — for golf
  11. club — a group
  12. perch — the fish
  13. club — for dancing
  14. clip — a video
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. court — of a king
  17. clip — for paper
  18. court — for sport
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wake — a trail
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. court — of law
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fan — a supporter

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