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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. kid — to tease
  3. squash — the sport
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. season — in sport
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. staff — a stick
  9. staff — employees
  10. snap — to click
  11. row — a line
  12. kid — child
  13. clip — for paper
  14. squash — to crush
  15. date — the fruit
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. clip — a video
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. clip — to cut
  20. season — of the year
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. staff — employees
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. row — to paddle

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