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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. rule — a law
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cell — a phone
  11. shower — rain
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cell — in biology
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. rule — government
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bark — to shout
  19. degree — from a university
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — the sport
  23. cap — a hat
  24. shower — to wash

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