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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. squash — the sport
  4. spell — letters
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. season — of the year
  7. squash — to crush
  8. spell — magic
  9. content — the amount
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. bark — to shout
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. chip — for betting
  17. content — happy
  18. kick — in football
  19. season — in sport
  20. spell — a short time
  21. chip — to eat
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. stem — to come from
  24. chip — in a computer

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