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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. roll — a cake
  3. roll — a list
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. mine — for digging
  6. capital — money
  7. pop — to visit
  8. spring — the season
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. shower — rain
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — music
  13. spring — of water
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. spring — a coil
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. shower — to wash
  19. squash — the sport
  20. capital — a city
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. toast — bread
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. mine — belonging to me

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