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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. squash — to crush
  3. sharp — clever
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cold — not warm
  7. net — in sport
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. content — the amount
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. net — for catching
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. net — after costs
  18. squash — the sport
  19. content — happy
  20. game — wild animals
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. craft — boats
  23. craft — a skill
  24. game — a match

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