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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. squash — to crush
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. land — ground
  5. cold — an illness
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. can — a tin
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. land — to come down
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. can — to be able to
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. kid — to tease
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. kid — child
  16. cold — not warm
  17. land — a country
  18. snap — to click
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. squash — the sport
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. branch — a division
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. can — a tin

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