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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — to crush
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. capital — a city
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. mug — to rob
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. squash — the sport
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mug — a face
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pound — a weight
  17. mug — a cup
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. fork — in a road
  21. mark — a grade
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. mark — a trace
  24. capital — money

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