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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. lean — to bend
  3. pop — music
  4. court — for sport
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — after costs
  7. wind — moving air
  8. march — the month
  9. squash — the sport
  10. wind — moving air
  11. march — the month
  12. march — music
  13. pop — soda
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. pop — to visit
  16. court — of a king
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. squash — to crush
  20. net — for catching
  21. lean — thin
  22. court — of law
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. race — the arms race

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