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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. bat — the animal
  3. march — the month
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bark — to shout
  6. saw — the tool
  7. march — the month
  8. rash — a series
  9. march — music
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. capital — a city
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. squash — the sport
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. saw — the tool
  18. squash — to crush
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. capital — money
  23. kid — child
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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