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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. chair — a leader
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. scale — size or range
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. land — ground
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. squash — the sport
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. scale — in music
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. bat — for 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