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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. clip — a video
  6. mine — for digging
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. toast — bread
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. pitch — completely
  15. plane — a tool
  16. clip — to cut
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. chair — a leader
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. clip — for paper

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