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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bat — the animal
  4. drill — the tool
  5. perch — the fish
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bark — to shout
  8. degree — from a university
  9. drill — a practice
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. degree — temperature
  15. squash — to crush
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. drill — army training

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