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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. prune — to trim
  4. squash — the sport
  5. mine — for digging
  6. squash — to crush
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. spell — magic
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. press — to push
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pound — a weight
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — letters
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. press — a publisher
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. press — newspapers
  21. snap — to click
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. mine — belonging to me

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