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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. squash — the sport
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a dance
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. ball — a great time
  8. clip — for paper
  9. ground — crushed
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. ground — the earth
  13. perch — the fish
  14. fine — high quality
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. clip — a video
  17. squash — to crush
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. dip — to sink
  22. clip — to cut
  23. fine — all right
  24. dip — a sauce

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