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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. squash — to crush
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. mate — to breed
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. file — a document
  11. mate — a partner
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. fork — in a road
  14. mate — a friend
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. wind — moving air
  18. game — a match
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. degree — an amount
  21. file — a line of people
  22. squash — the sport
  23. wind — moving air
  24. file — a tool

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