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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. field — for sport
  4. dip — to sink
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. mate — a partner
  7. rule — a law
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. snap — to click
  10. mate — a friend
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. rule — government
  13. cold — an illness
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — a subject
  20. mate — to breed
  21. squash — to crush
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. squash — the sport

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