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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. ground — crushed
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. scale — size or range
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. last — finally
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. last — to go on
  14. ground — a position
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. squash — to crush
  19. last — final
  20. pitch — completely
  21. scale — in music
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ground — the earth
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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