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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. kid — child
  4. root — of a word
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. squash — to crush
  7. band — a ring
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. root — of a plant
  10. march — the month
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. kid — to tease
  13. root — the cause
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. perch — the fish
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. sharp — clever
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. band — a music group
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. band — a rubber band

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