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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. current — electric
  3. content — the amount
  4. row — a line
  5. squash — the sport
  6. content — happy
  7. degree — temperature
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. row — to paddle
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. squash — to crush
  12. pitch — completely
  13. current — happening now
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — to come from
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. current — of water
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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