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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. squash — the sport
  4. fine — high quality
  5. cold — an illness
  6. staff — employees
  7. cold — not warm
  8. staff — employees
  9. rest — a break
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. fine — all right
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. sharp — clever
  17. staff — a stick
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — what's left
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bark — to shout
  24. fine — a penalty

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