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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. game — a match
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — to crush
  6. land — a country
  7. dip — to sink
  8. prune — to trim
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — ground
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. face — to confront
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. face — part of the head
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. face — to point toward
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. prune — to trim

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