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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. pop — music
  6. face — part of the head
  7. perch — the fish
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pop — soda
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. rule — a law
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. band — a ring
  14. rule — government
  15. face — to confront
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. squash — to crush
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. kid — to tease
  21. band — a music group
  22. face — to point toward
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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