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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.

Make a worksheet

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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. season — in sport
  3. shower — to wash
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — of the year
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. face — part of the head
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. ground — the earth
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bass — low music
  14. snap — to click
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ground — a position
  19. face — to confront
  20. shower — rain
  21. bass — the fish
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. face — to point toward
  24. ground — crushed

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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