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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. present — a gift
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. wound — an injury
  5. present — the time now
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. rash — hasty
  9. roll — a cake
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pop — to visit
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. perch — the fish
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pop — music
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. roll — a list
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pop — soda
  23. present — there
  24. squash — to crush

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