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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. land — to come down
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. spell — letters
  5. land — a country
  6. ground — a position
  7. land — ground
  8. rush — hurry
  9. squash — the sport
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — to visit
  12. degree — temperature
  13. ground — the earth
  14. squash — to crush
  15. degree — an amount
  16. ground — crushed
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. degree — from a university
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pop — music
  22. spell — magic
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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