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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. staff — employees
  5. court — of law
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. staff — employees
  9. court — of a king
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. squash — to crush
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. snap — to click
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. court — for sport
  18. row — a line
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. row — to paddle
  21. staff — a stick
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. pitcher — in 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