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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — in music
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. clip — to cut
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — a series
  10. squash — the sport
  11. key — for a lock
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — a line
  14. squash — to crush
  15. row — to paddle
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — a video
  20. perch — the fish
  21. mine — for digging
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a match
  24. rash — hasty

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