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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — the sport
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. pitch — completely
  5. squash — to crush
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — a match
  11. capital — a city
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. wake — a trail
  14. game — wild animals
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bass — low music
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. bass — the fish
  24. snap — to click

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