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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 120 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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. mate — a friend
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. bass — low music
  9. scale — size or range
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. scale — in music
  12. mate — to breed
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. squash — the sport
  18. mate — a partner
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bark — to shout
  24. scale — for weighing

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