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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. land — to come down
  4. bank — for money
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. bat — the animal
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. land — a country
  16. bear — the animal
  17. pound — a weight
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bank — of a river
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bank — for money
  22. squash — the sport
  23. land — ground
  24. shower — rain

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