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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. rush — hurry
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. stock — shares
  8. cell — a phone
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. fork — in a road
  13. squash — to crush
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. squash — the sport
  17. clip — a video
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. stock — goods
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. cell — in biology
  24. rash — a series

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