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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — a trail
  3. bat — the animal
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. present — there
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. squash — the sport
  9. squash — to crush
  10. present — the time now
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. march — the month
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. present — a gift
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. shower — to wash
  20. rash — a series
  21. perch — the fish
  22. rash — hasty
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — for baseball

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