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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. pit — a hole
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. march — the month
  7. lean — to bend
  8. march — music
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. pit — in a race
  13. march — the month
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. lean — thin
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. game — wild animals
  20. fork — in a road
  21. game — a match
  22. squash — the sport
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. wake — a trail

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