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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 116 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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. track — a path
  5. kid — to tease
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. track — to keep track
  9. court — of a king
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. court — for sport
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. squash — the sport
  16. bound — obliged
  17. bound — tied together
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. court — of law
  20. squash — to crush
  21. bound — certain
  22. track — a song
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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