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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. club — for dancing
  3. spell — magic
  4. squash — to crush
  5. mine — for digging
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ball — a dance
  8. file — a tool
  9. cold — an illness
  10. file — a line of people
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. spell — letters
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. file — a document
  16. ball — a great time
  17. spell — a short time
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. club — for golf
  21. cold — not warm
  22. club — a group
  23. craft — boats
  24. craft — a skill

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