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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. squash — to crush
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. track — a path
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cold — an illness
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bat — the animal
  12. stem — to come from
  13. squash — the sport
  14. game — wild animals
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. track — a song
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. game — a match
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. track — to keep track
  24. safe — a strongbox

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