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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. chip — for betting
  3. firm — a company
  4. squash — to crush
  5. mate — a partner
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. chip — to eat
  9. shower — to wash
  10. bat — the animal
  11. firm — decided
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. wound — an injury
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — the fish
  19. shower — rain
  20. firm — steady
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. squash — the sport
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. mate — a friend

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