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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — wild animals
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. chair — a leader
  6. scale — size or range
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. scale — in music
  9. mate — a friend
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. mate — a partner
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. mate — to breed
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. file — a document
  17. squash — to crush
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. file — a line of people
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. game — a match
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. squash — the sport
  24. file — a tool

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