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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — the sport
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. game — wild animals
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. drill — a practice
  10. shower — to wash
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. squash — to crush
  16. shower — rain
  17. drill — army training
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. plane — a tool
  20. foot — a measure
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. game — a match
  23. pitch — completely
  24. drill — the tool

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