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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.

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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. swing — to play on
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. mug — a face
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. game — a match
  10. mug — to rob
  11. mug — a cup
  12. lean — thin
  13. game — wild animals
  14. lean — to bend
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — music
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. tear — from crying
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wound — an injury
  23. perch — the fish
  24. game — a kind of play

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