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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. rest — a break
  3. cap — of ice
  4. cap — a hat
  5. row — to paddle
  6. rest — what's left
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cap — a lid
  12. squash — to crush
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. wind — moving air
  17. row — a line
  18. saw — the tool
  19. squash — the sport
  20. bat — the animal
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. rest — what's left

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