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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. track — to keep track
  3. pop — to visit
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. game — wild animals
  6. squash — the sport
  7. bark — to shout
  8. ground — crushed
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — music
  12. ground — a position
  13. prune — to trim
  14. track — a song
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. track — a path
  20. game — a match
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. prune — to trim
  23. squash — to crush
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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