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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. last — to go on
  3. spell — magic
  4. spell — letters
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. last — final
  8. degree — an amount
  9. squash — the sport
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. degree — temperature
  12. scale — size or range
  13. chest — of your body
  14. last — finally
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. spell — a short time
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. scale — in music
  20. chest — a box
  21. squash — to crush
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. chest — of your body

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