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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. squash — to crush
  6. land — ground
  7. row — a line
  8. capital — money
  9. net — in sport
  10. march — the month
  11. root — the cause
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. squash — the sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. root — of a plant
  16. net — for catching
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. root — of a word
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. row — to paddle
  23. capital — a city
  24. jam — in traffic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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