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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 120 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. pop — soda
  4. game — a match
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. fall — the season
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. file — a document
  9. squash — to crush
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. fall — to drop
  13. snap — to click
  14. fall — to drop
  15. game — wild animals
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mine — for digging
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. pop — to visit
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. file — a tool
  22. pop — music
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. squash — the sport

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