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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. fall — the season
  3. swing — to play on
  4. roll — a cake
  5. chest — of your body
  6. ground — a position
  7. chest — a box
  8. roll — a list
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — after costs
  11. squash — to crush
  12. cell — in biology
  13. net — in sport
  14. cell — a phone
  15. ground — crushed
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — music
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. ground — the earth
  21. chest — of your body
  22. squash — the sport
  23. fall — to drop
  24. roll — on a roll

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