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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.

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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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. lie — to recline
  11. wax — to grow
  12. squash — the sport
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. drill — the tool
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cold — not warm
  17. drill — a practice
  18. cold — an illness
  19. squash — to crush
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. drill — army training
  22. branch — a division
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. branch — of a tree

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