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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. spell — letters
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. mug — a face
  8. squash — to crush
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. spell — a short time
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. mug — to rob
  13. current — electric
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. current — of water
  17. mug — a cup
  18. cold — an illness
  19. sharp — clever
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. current — happening now
  22. spell — magic
  23. branch — a division
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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