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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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. bear — the animal
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bear — the animal
  8. swing — in golf
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rash — a series
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. plane — a tool
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. cold — an illness
  19. swing — to play on
  20. pass — a permit
  21. squash — to crush
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. swing — music

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