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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 116 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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. mark — a grade
  4. land — to come down
  5. rule — a law
  6. squash — to crush
  7. race — a contest
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. race — the arms race
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. race — humankind
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pound — a weight
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. mark — a trace
  20. shower — rain
  21. land — a country
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. land — ground

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