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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. spell — magic
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pop — music
  5. suit — in cards
  6. last — final
  7. pop — soda
  8. spell — a short time
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tube — a container
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. last — finally
  14. suit — clothes
  15. clip — a video
  16. spell — letters
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pop — to visit
  20. clip — to cut
  21. tube — the underground
  22. suit — to fit
  23. last — to go on
  24. squash — the sport

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