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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  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. squash — the vegetable
  2. face — to confront
  3. cold — an illness
  4. game — a match
  5. row — a line
  6. key — in music
  7. face — part of the head
  8. board — a committee
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. face — to point toward
  15. shower — rain
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. key — the most important part
  19. squash — the sport
  20. row — to paddle
  21. board — to get on
  22. key — for a lock
  23. shower — to wash
  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