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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. band — a ring
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. band — a music group
  8. capital — a city
  9. rush — hurry
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. pit — a hole
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. cell — a phone
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. cell — in biology
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. pit — in a race
  22. squash — the sport
  23. capital — money
  24. sharp — clever

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