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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. land — ground
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. prune — to trim
  10. squash — the sport
  11. bark — to shout
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. prune — to trim
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. land — to come down
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. hand — help
  19. kick — in football
  20. fork — in a road
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. squash — to crush
  24. land — a country

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