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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 120 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 King held a masked ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. ball — a dance
  3. squash — the sport
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. foot — a measure
  8. bank — of a river
  9. ball — a great time
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — music
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. capital — a city
  15. pop — soda
  16. squash — to crush
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. capital — money
  22. bank — for money
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bank — for 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