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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. object — to protest
  4. object — a thing
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. prune — to trim
  10. squash — to crush
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. object — an aim
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cold — not warm
  21. prune — to trim
  22. court — of law
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. cold — an illness

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