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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. fall — to drop
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mug — a face
  5. spring — a coil
  6. degree — from a university
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. fall — the season
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — happy
  11. mug — a cup
  12. mug — to rob
  13. squash — to crush
  14. shower — rain
  15. degree — temperature
  16. squash — the sport
  17. spring — the season
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. fall — to drop
  21. content — the amount
  22. shower — to wash
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. spring — of water

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