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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 120 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  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. squash — the sport
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. clip — to cut
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. squash — to crush
  6. charge — in control
  7. charge — electricity
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. clip — a video
  10. prune — to trim
  11. spell — magic
  12. spell — letters
  13. charge — a price
  14. clip — for paper
  15. prune — to trim
  16. spell — a short time
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wake — a trail
  22. dip — to sink
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  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