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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. mate — to breed
  4. scale — size or range
  5. capital — money
  6. row — to paddle
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. spring — the season
  9. squash — the sport
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. rush — hurry
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. row — a line
  14. capital — a city
  15. dip — to sink
  16. scale — in music
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. spring — of water
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. spring — a coil
  22. squash — to crush
  23. mate — a partner
  24. mate — a friend

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