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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 116 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. land — ground
  5. bark — to shout
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. rash — hasty
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. bat — the animal
  12. land — a country
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. board — to get on
  16. squash — to crush
  17. last — final
  18. dip — to sink
  19. rash — a series
  20. squash — the sport
  21. board — a committee
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. land — to come down
  24. bat — in an idiom

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