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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. ground — a position
  6. foot — a measure
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. squash — to crush
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a document
  11. ground — crushed
  12. pit — a hole
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. file — a tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. ground — the earth
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. pit — in a race
  24. plane — a 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