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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. prune — to trim
  5. last — to go on
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. prune — to trim
  8. mine — for digging
  9. last — finally
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. last — final
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. hand — in cards
  15. scale — size or range
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. scale — in music
  18. hand — help
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. toast — bread
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. squash — to crush

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