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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. prune — to trim
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. cell — in biology
  5. fork — in a road
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. lie — to recline
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. scale — in music
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. drill — the tool
  15. bat — the animal
  16. squash — to crush
  17. prune — to trim
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. scale — size or range
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. drill — a practice
  23. squash — the sport
  24. drill — army training

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