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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. game — a match
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. march — the month
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. march — the month
  8. stock — shares
  9. prune — to trim
  10. squash — the sport
  11. snap — to click
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — a line
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. row — to paddle
  16. stock — goods
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. game — wild animals
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. prune — to trim
  21. march — music
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. coach — a trainer

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