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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 116 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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. row — to paddle
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cell — a phone
  5. track — a song
  6. cell — in biology
  7. track — a path
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. squash — the sport
  10. spell — magic
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — a short time
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. capital — money
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. row — a line
  18. capital — a city
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — to trim
  23. track — to keep track
  24. cell — in a prison

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