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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. last — final
  6. season — of the year
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — music
  9. last — to go on
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pop — soda
  12. squash — to crush
  13. face — part of the head
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. face — to confront
  16. season — in sport
  17. clip — for paper
  18. face — to point toward
  19. clip — a video
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. bat — the animal
  24. last — finally

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