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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mine — for digging
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. chest — of your body
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bore — to tire
  14. plane — a tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. squash — to crush
  17. wound — an injury
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. squash — the sport
  20. bore — to drill
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mine — an explosive

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