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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. pop — to visit
  4. march — music
  5. ground — the earth
  6. kid — child
  7. march — the month
  8. charge — a price
  9. ground — crushed
  10. march — the month
  11. pop — music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. charge — in control
  14. ground — a position
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. pop — soda
  17. kid — to tease
  18. cold — an illness
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. charge — electricity
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. squash — to crush
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. foot — a measure

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