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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. staff — employees
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. last — to go on
  6. squash — to crush
  7. staff — a stick
  8. march — the month
  9. squash — the sport
  10. march — the month
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — help
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. tube — a container
  17. march — music
  18. wind — moving air
  19. hand — in cards
  20. wind — moving air
  21. last — finally
  22. last — final
  23. staff — employees
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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