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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 120 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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. swing — music
  4. bound — obliged
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rest — what's left
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. land — a country
  10. cold — not warm
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bound — certain
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. kid — to tease
  17. squash — to crush
  18. plane — a tool
  19. land — ground
  20. bound — tied together
  21. kid — child
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. land — to come down

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