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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pop — to visit
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bound — tied together
  8. mine — for digging
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bound — certain
  12. pop — soda
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. pop — music
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. bat — the animal
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. bat — for baseball

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