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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. hand — in cards
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. branch — a division
  7. kid — child
  8. shower — rain
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. drill — a practice
  12. drill — army training
  13. drill — the tool
  14. squash — to crush
  15. pit — a hole
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — to tease
  18. shower — to wash
  19. can — to be able to
  20. can — a tin
  21. hand — help
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. pit — in a race
  24. can — a tin

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