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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. march — the month
  4. rule — a law
  5. rest — what's left
  6. craft — a skill
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. hand — in cards
  9. march — music
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. spring — of water
  12. craft — boats
  13. rule — government
  14. rest — a break
  15. squash — the sport
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. capital — money
  19. march — the month
  20. hand — help
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — a city
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. rest — what's left

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