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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 120 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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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. shower — a meteor shower
  4. shower — to wash
  5. spring — the season
  6. content — the amount
  7. spring — of water
  8. net — in sport
  9. object — an aim
  10. net — for catching
  11. object — a thing
  12. squash — to crush
  13. shower — rain
  14. net — after costs
  15. vault — a safe
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. kid — to tease
  18. object — to protest
  19. spring — a coil
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. content — happy
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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