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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. cell — in biology
  3. march — music
  4. mate — a partner
  5. squash — the sport
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. net — after costs
  8. file — a tool
  9. march — the month
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — in sport
  12. file — a document
  13. march — the month
  14. cell — a phone
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. fine — all right
  17. mate — a friend
  18. file — a line of people
  19. mate — to breed
  20. fine — high quality
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. straw — a straw man

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