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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. shower — to wash
  4. game — a match
  5. season — in sport
  6. scale — size or range
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. shower — rain
  10. scale — in music
  11. game — wild animals
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. drill — a practice
  15. perch — the fish
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — the tool
  18. squash — the sport
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. squash — to crush
  23. season — of the year
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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