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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 124 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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. toast — bread
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. field — for sport
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. squash — to crush
  11. bat — the animal
  12. field — farmland
  13. wound — an injury
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. field — a subject
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. cell — in biology
  24. squash — the sport

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