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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. kid — child
  3. ball — a great time
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. last — final
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — to crush
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. chest — of your body
  12. key — in music
  13. key — for a lock
  14. ball — a dance
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. last — to go on
  17. chest — a box
  18. key — the most important part
  19. perch — the fish
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. last — finally
  22. kid — to tease
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. chest — of your body

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